







0^ ^ ^ 0 /■ 'o 

^ ^ 

^ O U// '.. , - „ 

y «a^ ^ ^ -A ✓ 

ii O / c '> iG ^ ^ n y '^ <'\ O '^ / 

P .^ ^_ '/ 9j> O' 

' -Pa = 




\0°<. 




-V "7^ 

'' Tyy-' V#’ ^ 7, , 

<?' -V) ^ ,H\ /h. "^V \\‘ 

</^- .\A^ . ^-^ffllPffcrS^ ^ ^ rlVvV^A/Z^ ® 

* A^‘ '^o 

* ^ ^ rj^ ^ 

4A O 7 s ^ .G ’ 

> c»~'-«^'^b *" .o'^\'"'“« 

%.% v<" ^ 7 

iS® - V* 


. V <r- .. ^> 


I h 


y^ 


9 i u - 

0 k 


=5 


o 


* r 

' ,0' 


* 


vP^* ^ - 

•> * >3By Y> 


N C 


vA -; 

V %-K>)-. '>:;^ % 

0 ^ ^ A O / 

'yp A^ . 0 ^ c ,. 

<^yi ' fj- 

»> - -ft 

■i ' ' ^ ''• 7®' 

; • ' '” v>^:^_^>/* ’ ” ” ‘ ' ' '“ V 

’^' ,A ^ 1 AM/ 

j\>- '•'<' ^f"^'^’ J. ' '^’ 












^ 0 ^ 

, 


./ 



l> 




» » s 0 ’ °A 

» ' * « / ‘c- \.- 

> d-?*^ A - ■7?' V, 7 

'X ^ ^ ^ *v 

.-.v ■%,. 










yr 


0 

1 \ 

k> ^fsXNWn^^ ^ ^ WU/yy^ y^. .!> '* 

. - V. . ^ ^ . '’^^K, ’ 


)o 

y<> 


■/h ,C\' 

y >7 ^ z 

J, * .,V' ^ 


* <r ^ 






w/* 




:>o'' 



/ 



-f' 


’ ■"■ ^ ' X^-' ,.., 

.V X vX" 

X X* aV 

' y% -^- 8 -. 

* 3 ,'''ro' ^ » ,A ^ 

fp .v” y-: "V J-*' ' 

“J 

^ * ,‘W^s y % .' . qo 

'<f^ \v' - ^ ^wyr/ /y% TL 

X . s" . 

y X 
















4 

































* . 









I 


# . 


f-’ - 







« 




✓ t 

3 ^ * 





. > 

I 


s 


J 


> .. . 


' ^ 



I 


I 

r 

• •, . 


u 


I 






» 


0 


*• 


I 




» 




» 


%*• 


I 





« 


» # 

• i 


4 




»♦>* 

\. •- 

* 


k 











f 

ft 

•J/r J 

Bl"' 

^^__g||^^__|__^g||||aM . . 



It was 


See page 146 

their last resource 






THE ‘‘ NORTH POLE " SERIES. 

% 


CAST AWAY AT 
THE NORTH POLE 

BY 

EDWIN JAMES HOUSTON, Ph.D. 

Member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, American Philosophical 
Society; Past President of the American Institute of Electrical 
Engineers; author of “ Electricity in Every Day Life,” 
and many popular scientific works; President of the 
Boys* Brotherhood of Philadelphia and 
author of numerous stories for boys. 



THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO. 


CHICAGO 


PHILADELPHIA 


TORONTO 



]UBKARY of CONGRESS ? 
Ivro Cooies Rxelvod . 

Jill 11 tyor i 

isrhf Entry 
////9 ^ 
CX. XXc., No. f 

/ ? / X f V 

COPY a. 



7i 


i 



THE NORTH ROLE SERIES of Books for Boys, by Prof. 
Edwin J. Houston, Ph.D., giving boys not only vivid and thrill- 
ing stories of adventure, but in narrating for them in a most 
attractive manner fascinating and accurate accounts of the 
most recent scientific knowledge in which all boys are more in- 
terested than in any other study or pastime. The titles of 
the three volumes are : 

“The Search for the North Pole,” 

“The Discovery of the North Pole/’ 

“Cast Away at the North Pole.” 

Published in attractive form, with remarkably clever Illustra- 
tions. .Three vols., 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00 each, or $3.00 
per set, neatly boxed. 

THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO., 

Publishers, 

Philadelphia, Pa. 


Copyright 1907 

BY 

The John C. Winston Co. 


RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO HIS FRIEND 

MR. AMOS BONSALL 


OF PHILADELPHIA 

THE ONLY SURVIVING MEMBER OF THE 

KANE POLAR EXPEDITION OF 1854-5. 


My Dear Dr. Houston: 

I am delighted that you have completed your “trio” 
of books for boys, and I feel highly honored by your propo- 
sition to dedicate them to me as the last survivor of 
the Kane Arctic Expedition. 

The manuscript which I have read assures me that 
your stories will be popular and instructive to the rising 
generation of American boys, since they are attractively 
told, and accurately express some of the phenomena of 
the regions of the Far North. 

Your friend, 

(Signed) Amos Bonsall. 


PREFACE. 


■ In ‘‘Cast Away at the North Pole” the author has en- 
deavored to show how possible it is for intelligent boys 
to live comfortably for awhile on an uninhabited island 
in the far North, although provided with very little besides 
the clothes they have on. 

The story has been so told as to impart information 

of the peculiarities of life in the far North. 

While the author has assumed the existence of a 
warmer climate in the regions surrounding the North 
Pole than is generally attributed to it, yet he has en- 
deavored to tell a story that will contain considerable 
reliable information for its readers. 


E. J. H. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Chap. I. Balloon Station Number Two. 9 

Chap. II. Andree and Eric are Imprisoned 

BY THE Eskimos 31 

Chap. III. Ma-kip-su and Ses-su to the 

Rescue 55 

Chap. IV. Sorrow at Camp Henderson ... 74 

Chap. V. An Arctic Balloon Voyage .... 95 

Chap. VI. The Ulloa Circle, or the Phan- 
tom Balloon 114 

Chap. VII. Collapse of the Balloon — 
Everything Lost — The Boys 

AND THEIR DOGS ReACH AN 
Uninhabited Island 133 

Chap. VIII. Balloon Island 153 


Contents 


PAGE 

Chap. IX. Further Examination of Bal- 
loon Island i 79 

Chap. X. Jetsam and Flotsam 194 

Chap. XL To Kransen Island on a 

Floating Cake of Ice 214 

Chap. XII. Arrival at Kransen Island, 

OR THE Island of the North 
Pole 230 

Chap. XIII. Preparations for Wintering 

ON Kransen Island ...... 248 

Chap. XIV. Winter at Kransen Island. . 271 
Chap. XV. Return of Spring and Sum- 
mer — Further Exploration 
' of Kransen Island 288 

Chap. XVI. An Important Discovery 304 

Chap. XVIL Camp Henderson 317 

Chap. XVIII. The Wireless Telegraphic 
Station on Kransen Is- 
land 334 

Chap. XIX. Arrival of the Dirigible Bal- 
loon AT Kransen Island.. 348 

Chap. XX. Punishment of Doctor Will- 
son AND the Hostile Eski- 
mos. Conclusion 362 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE ^ 

It was their Last Resource Frontispiece ^ 

Seized Him Unaware 54 ^ 

He Sprang for the Moving Ice Cake 228 Z ' 

Blindly Followed the Dogs 276 


CHARACTERS. 


George I. Henderson, of Chicago, Multi-Millionaire and 
Financial Backer of the Henderson-Kransen ’North 
Polar Expedition. 

Professor Lars Kransen, Commander of the Expedition. 

Dr. Horatio Hanscombe, Chief Physician. 

Captain Silas Jones, of New Bedford, Mass., Chief Navi- 
gator. 

Andree Kransen, Nephew of Professor Kransen. 

Eric Hanscombe, Nephew of Dr. Hanscombe. 

Gideon Brown, Chief Reporter for Henderson’s News- 
papers, 

Charles Thomas, Chief Electrician. 

Anders Jannsen, Chief Mechanician. 

Dr. Henry Stone, Assistant Physician of the “Explorer.” 

Hjalmar Gorgsen, Boatswain. 

George Hodges, Electrician at Balloon Station No. 2. 

James Albertson, Assistant Electrician at Balloon Station 
No. 2. 

Joe, an Eskimo, Chief Sledge Driver. 

Kes-su, A-wah-tok and Ma-kip-su, Eskimos. 

Captain Henry Northrop, Commander of the Relief Ship 
“Rescue.” 

Dr. Henry Willson, formerly Chief Physician of Relief 
Ship “Rescue.” 

Dr. Shallcross, Chief Physician of the “Rescue.” 

Caesar. Cook of the “Explorer.” 

CooLY, Steward of “Rescue.” 


CAST AWAY AT THE 
NORTH POLE 


CHAPTER I 

BALLOON STATION NUMBER TWO 

44X8 the balloon tight ? Will it hold gas 
JL think it is all right, but it must 
be inflated before we can be sure. If we 
then find any leaks they will be small and can 
be stopped by a fresh coating of rubber var- 
nish. ’ ’ 

^^Then,” said the first speaker, will 
send a party to establish a balloon station on 
the headland sixty miles west of our camp. 
We will equip the balloon with wireless 
telegraphic apparatus, and as usual, place 
in its basket supplies of food and other 
necessary articles.’’ 


9 


10 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

The speakers were two men. The place 
was the principal room of a balloon station 
on a headland near the Arctic Ocean. Be- 
sides these two there were several other men 
and two boys in the room.. One of the men 
had been carefully examining a large empty 
balloon of the ordinary type, which had been 
spread out on a wooden table. To one 
unfamiliar with the handling of a balloon, it 
might have appeared that the balloon lay in 
a confused mass on the table, but after see- 
ing the skilful manner in which seam after 
seam, was carefully examined from top 
to bottom, it was evident that the confusion 
was only apparent, and that the man direct- 
ing the examination thoroughly understood 
his business. It was on the completion of 
this examination that the first speaker in- 
quired as to its condition. When he had re- 
ceived this satisfactory report, he turned to 
one of the two boys, a slightly built lad of 
not quite seventeen years, and said : 


BALLOON STATION NUMBER TWO 


11 


^^Eric, as soon as the buildings are com- 
pleted and the balloon is in place and pro- 
vided with its wireless apparatus and stores, 
I wish you and Andree to make an examina- 
tion of the surrounding country, and give 
me a report of the same on your return. I 
shall expect both of you to return with the 
dog team after it has brought its second load 
of material. We will call this station. Bal- 
loon Station No. 2, in order to distinguish it 
from the station here, which will now be 
known as 'Balloon Station No. 1.” 

The above conversation took place to- 
wards the middle of a certain day in July. 
The place was a point on the headland on 
the northeastern shore of Grant Land, 
North America, in lat. 88° N., alongside the 
wireless telegraphic station at Camp Hen- 
derson, the winter headquarters of the Hen- 
derson-Kransen North Polar Expedition. 
The first speaker was Commander Kransen. 
The one to whom he began talking was An- 


12 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

ders Jannsen, chief mechanician of the ex- 
pedition to whom the charge of the bal- 
loons had been assigned. The two boys were 
our friends, Andree and Eric, nephews of 
Prof. Kransen and Dr. Hanscombe, chief 
physician of the expedition. There were 
also present in the room, Capt. Jones, chief 
navigator of the expedition, and several of 
the crew. 

For the sake of those who have not read 
the other two volumes of the North Pole 
Series, ‘‘The Search for the North Pole,’’ 
and “The Discovery of the North Pole,” it 
may be said that the Henderson-Kransen 
North Polar Expedition had sailed from 
New York City more than a year ago, in 
a wooden vessel especially built for the 
purpose, with Prof. Lars Kransen as Com- 
mander. The name of the vessel was the 
“The Explorer.” The expenses of the Ex- 
pedition were met by a Chicago multi-mil- 
lionaire, Mr. George I. Henderson. The ob- 


BALLOON STATION NUMBER TWO 


13 


ject of the expedition was not only to reach 
the North Pole, but especially to provide ex- 
clusive news for Henderson’s newspapers, 
published in New York, Philadelphia, Bos- 
ton, Chicago, San Francisco, and several 
other large cities. 

Under the skilful navigation of Captain 
Jones, the Expedition had reached its prin- 
cipal station on the northeastern coast of 
Grant Land. The Expedition has now been 
in. Grant Land for nearly one year. ‘^The 
Explorer” lay safely anchored in an excel- 
lent land-locked harbor near the substantial 
buildings that constituted their permanent 
winter headquarters at Camp Henderson. 
The Expedition had been very successful 
and had discovered two large islands, one 
named Hanscombe Island, after Dr. Hans- 
combe, the chief physician of the Expedi- 
tion, and the other named Kransen Island, 
near the centre of which the North Pole had 
been located. 


14 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

Both of these islands had been taken pos- 
session of in the name of the United States 
of America. Some stores had been left on 
Kransen Island in a lava cave, and a per- 
manent station built on Hanscombe Island. 
Here a party, consisting, besides some of the 
crew, of an electrician and his assistant, two 
scientific observers, for the purpose of mak- 
ing records of the direction and velocity of 
the wind, the pressure of the atmosphere, 
the direction of ocean currents, as well as a 
careful study of the natural products of the 
island, had been left under the command of 
Dr. Stone, who had left New York as an as- 
sistant physician of the Expedition. In or- 
der to keep this station in communication 
with Camp Henderson, and New York City, 
it had been equipped with a wireless tele- 
graphic station, the apparatus had been 
tuned to receive and transmit messages both 
to Camp Henderson and New York City. 

It may be a matter of surprise that Com- 


BALLOON STATION NUMBER TWO 


15 


mander Kransen should send a lad so young 
as Eric to attend to the wireless telegraphic 
apparatus. But those who have read the 
books before referred to will recall the fact 
that the wireless telegraphic balloon appa- 
ratus was an invention of Eric’s, that, more- 
over, the lad was so familiar with both the 
construction and operation of the Marconi 
wireless telegraphic apparatus that he was 
sometimes left in charge of the station at 
Camp Henderson. Eric had the advantage 
of not only inheriting marked electrical abil- 
ities from his father, but also in having 
Prof. Lars Kransen, Commander of the Ex- 
pedition, as a teacher, for Prof. Kransen 
w^as a skilled physicist, and had given con- 
siderable attention to wireless apparatus. 

It may be interesting here to say that An- 
dree and Eric, the two youngest members 
of the Henderson-Kransen North Polar Ex- 
pedition, had first reached the North Pole 
in a stationary balloon equipped with wire- 


16 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

less telegraphic apparatus. This balloon 
had been blown away from its temporary 
moorings at Hanscombe Island during a se- 
vere storm that had suddenly reached the 
island. The two boys, at the request of 
Prof. Kransen, had climbed into the balloon 
in order to open the valve at the top, and so 
permit the escape of some of the gas. In this 
manner the boys had safely reached Kran- 
sen Island, or the Land of the North Pole, 
where they were afterwards joined by 
Kransen, Hanscombe, and Gideon Brown, 
the chief reporter of the Expedition, and 
Mr. Jannsen, the chief mechanician. 

After a brief examination of Kransen Is- 
land the balloon that had brought the boys 
to the island was emptied of its gas, and 
carefully packed with its wireless tele- 
graphic apparatus in a cool part of one of 
the lava caves that had been discovered by 
the boys. There had also been left in this 
cave various stores, consisting of food sup- 


BALLOON STATION NUMBER TWO lY 

plies, ammunition, and various articles, for 
wliich they were unable to find room on the 
dirigible balloon. It was the intention of 
Kransen to erect winter quarters and a wire- 
less telegraphic station on Kransen Island 
some time before the setting in of the second 
winter ; for, according to secret instructions 
sent him in a sealed letter, Henderson had 
requested reports as to the possibility of 
commercially developing the lands of the far 
north, not only as regards their mineral de- 
posits, but also by breeding some of the more 
valuable land and water animals. 

When the conversation referred to at the 
beginning of the chapter was completed, 
Kransen turned to Dr. Hanscombe and be- 
gan to explain to him the advantages that 
would be ensured by the establishment of 
Balloon Station No. 2, since this station 
would place Camp Henderson in early com- 
munication with that distant point of Grant 
Land, that Kransen, in accordance with 
2 


18 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

the wishes of Henderson, intended to exam- 
ine thoroughly and explore as regards the 
mineral, vegetable, and animal products. 

While this conversation was going on, the 
boatswain of the Expedition, Hjalmar 
Gorgsen, came into the balloon station and 
said in an excited manner: 

^‘Commander Kransen, we have arrested 
Dr. Willson, while in company with some of 
the strange Eskimos who are coming every 
day to Camp Henderson from the south.” 

Dr. Willson had been x^hief physician of 
the ‘^Rescue,” the relief ship sent by Hen- 
derson from New York City with supplies 
for the erection of buildings on Hanscombe 
Island, as well as the establishment of per- 
manent headquarters on Kransen Island. 
When Andree and Eric had aided in taking 
Prof. Kransen, while in an unconscious con- 
dition, from a cake of floating ice to the re- 
lief ship, ‘‘Rescue,” Dr. Willson had ex- 
pressed it as his opinion that Kransen was 


BALLOON STATION NUMBER TWO 


19 


dead, and had declared his intention of mak- 
ing an autopsy, or post-mortem examination 
of the body, while it was still warm. Eric 
had prevented this, and by the application 
of the Icard Test, had proved that life was 
still present, and had thus saved the life of 
the Commander of the Expedition. 

Instead of acknowledging his mistake, as 
a sensible man would have done. Dr. Will- 
son had acted very foolishly, and on several 
occasions barely escaped severe handling on 
the part of the crew of the ‘‘Explorer,’’ 
whose Commander, Captain, and Chief 
Physician he was ridiculing and criticizing. 
Willson was therefore ordered by his Com- 
mander, Captain Northrop, of the “Ees- 
cue,” to remain on that vessel and to return 
with them to New York City. He escaped, 
however, from the vessel, and not being 
found, the “Eescue” had gone to New 
York without him. 

It was now three weeks since the ‘•‘ Ees- 


20 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

cue” liad left Camp Henderson. Although 
repeated searches had been made for Will- 
son, he had not then been found. When, 
therefore, Gorgsen came into the balloon 
station and said to Kransen: 

^‘We have arrested Dr. Willson,” there 
was a stir in the room, and Kransen said : 

Bring the man in here, Gorgsen.” 

Gorgsen left the room, and in a few min- 
utes returned with two men, who led in Dr. 
Willson. 

The Doctor who was very angry inquired : 

^‘Commander Kransen, by what right 
have these men arrested me? I protest 
against it as a high-handed outrage.” 

‘‘Dr. Willson,” replied Kransen, “you 
were ordered by your superior officer. Cap- 
tain Northrop, Commander of the ‘Rescue,’ 
to return in that vessel to New York City, 
but you failed to obey his order. Now, Doc- 
tor, I am ready for my part to forget your 
unprofessional conduct toward me. You 


BALLOON STATION NUMBER TWO 21 

must recognize that you are in a part of the 
world where it will be impossible for you to 
live during the approaching winter without 
proper food and shelter until another vessel 
arrives. If, however, you agree to obey the 
rules and regulations of our camp, I will 
provide you with food and shelter until you 
can safely leave here. Are you ready to 
make this promise?” 

will do nothing of the kind,” said 
Willson, in a still angrier tone. wish to 
have nothing to do with you or your Expe- 
dition.” 

It was indeed with no little difficulty that 
Prof. Kransen concealed his indignation at 
the discourteous manner in which . his 
overtures for peace were received. Still he 
managed to keep his temper, and quietly 
continued : 

‘^How do you expect to be able to remain 
here during the approaching winter. Dr. 
Willson?” 


22 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

^^That is none of your business,” replied 
the Doctor, in a still angrier tone. 

^^Then,” said Kransen, ‘‘both for your 
own good and for the good of the camp, I 
shall be obliged to detain you until I can 
send you safely away from this part of the 
world.” 

“By what right do you dare to restrain 
my liberty?” inquired Dr. Willson, now 
nearly wild with rage. 

Kransen made no remark to this inquiry, 
but Dr. Hanscombe turned to Willson and 
said : 

“Do you not see that you are acting very 
foolishly, as well as unprofessionally ? You 
can’t possibly exist in these high northern 
latitudes without shelter or' food. You are 
offered both of these at Camp Henderson, 
but if you remain it will be necessary for 
you to agree to obey the rules and regula- 
tions of the camp. If you refuse to do this. 
Prof. Kransen must either turn you loose or 


BALLOON STATION NUMBER TWO 23 

restrain your liberty while you remain with 
us/’ 

^‘Who are you, sir, who presumes to 
speak to me as you have done?” 

''I am Dr. Horatio Hanscombe, Chief 
Physician of the Henderson-Kransen North 
Polar Expedition.” 

“Oh, I see,” said Willson, in a contemp- 
tuous tone. ^ Wou are the uncle of that lit- 
tle snip,” pointing to Eric. “lam not sur- 
prised that you are so ready to meddle with 
other people’s business.” 

“Capt. Jones,” said Kransen, “take this 
fellow away. Lock him up in one of the 
rooms in our quarters. See that he is prop- 
erly fed, but do not let him escape or com- 
municate with the Eskimos.” 

“Gorgsen, attend to this,” said the Cap- 
tain turning to the boatswain. 

“Aye, aye, sir” replied Gorgsen, taking 
away the man. 

“I will be revenged on you for this 


24 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

treatment/’ said Willson, now almost crazy 
with anger, ^^and you, too,” he said, turn- 
ing to Eric; ^‘I’ll teach you how dangerous 
it is to meddle with my business.” 

When Willson had been removed by Hjal- 
mar and his men, Kransen turned to Hans- 
combe and said: 

^‘Hanscombe, is that man crazy or is he 
only a great fooH” 

^‘He is only a fool, Kransen,” was the 
reply. ‘‘But he is a dangerous man, and 
would give us much trouble in camp were 
he permitted to remain in it, free to go 
where he wished.” 

“Commander Kransen,” said Capt. 
Jones, “you’d better try to learn what the 
man has been doing with himself since he 
cut and ran from the ‘Rescue.’ ” 

“I will,” was the reply. “Eric, go 
after Gorgsen, and tell him to come here as 
soon as he has put Willson in a safe place.” 

When Gorgsen returned, about fifteen 


BALLOON STATION NUMBER TWO 25 

minutes afterward, he informed Kransen 
that Willson had been discovered in one of 
the houses of the strange Eskimos, who 
had recently come to Camp Henderson, and 
had erected snow houses about half a mile 
to the west of the camp; that he had been 
living with these men since leaving the 
^^Eescue.” 

While Gorgsen was talking, Eric came 
into the room with an Eskimo named 
A-wah'-tok, and Heinrich Krandemann, a 
Dane, who had been taken with the Expe- 
dition as a fisherman and interpreter of Es- 
kimo. A-wah'-tok was one of the Eskimos 
wdio had visited the camp shortly after the 
erection of the headquarter buildings. He 
was a good natured and honest man, who 
had been engaged by Kransen to return to 
the camp the next spring to aid in work on 
the Expedition. 

As the three came into the room Erie said : 

‘^Prof. Kransen, Heinrich tells me a story 


26 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

about Dr. Willson and the Eskimos with 
whom he has been living that I think you 
ought to hear.’’ 

“What is it, Heinrich?” asked Kransen, 
turning to the man. 

“Something A-wah'-tok told me,” was the 
reply. 

“All right,” said Kransen, “tell A-wah'- 
tok I want to know what he heard the 
strange Eskimos say about Dr. Willson.” 

“He say,” replied A-wah'-tok, “they have 
great white wizard at their camp. That this 
wizard came on ship that sailed away three 
weeks ago. He says he left ship to look 
after poor Eskimos. That the white men 
in this camp are very bad men. That when 
their ship leaves here they will steal away 
the Eskimos and take them many miles 
from here and sell them for slaves. He says 
if they will do what he tells them he will 
show them how to be revenged on the white 
people.” 


BALLOON STATION NUMBER TWO 


27 


Forewarned is forearmed,” said Kran- 
sen, when A-wah'-tok had told them his 
story, ^^we will keep a sharp lookout on the 
Eskimos, and see that Dr. Willson does not 
escape.” 

In a few days a sledging party was sent to 
the site selected for Balloon Station No. 
2. Andree and Eric accompanied the party, 
taking with them their Newfoundland dogs. 
Hector and Snowflake. These dogs were 
two splendid animals, belonging to the two 
boys, and had become greatly attached to 
their masters. Hector, a male, with jet 
black fur or hair, belonged to Andree, while 
Snowflake, a female, named on account of 
the pure white color of her hair, which, with 
the exception of a small black spot on the 
tip of her tail, was almost as white as the 
driven snow, was the property of Eric. 
These dogs were exceedingly intelligent and 
appeared to understand much of what the 
boys said to them. 


28 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

It was fully one week before tlie balloon 
was inflated, and firmly attached to the 
ground, at the BaUoon Station No. 2. The 
wireless apparatus had been placed on the 
balloon and put in good working condition, 
a number of trial despatches to Camp Hen- 
derson having been sent and answers re- 
ceived from the same. The building had been 
erected as far as the material would permit, 
and the dog teams had been sent back to 
Camp Henderson for the things necessary 
for its completion. 

As Andree and Eric had been requested 
to make an exploration of the western por- 
tion of Grant Land, their Newfoundland 
dogs had been permitted to remain with 
them. 

It was now two days after the dog teams 
had left Balloon Station No. 2 for Camp 
Henderson. Eric and Andree had left the 
station, accompanied by Hector and Snow- 
flake, on an exploring tour early one morn- 


BALLOON STATION NUMBER TWO 


29 


ing, and did not expect to return for sev- 
eral days. Though young, the lads were 
capable of safely making such explor- 
ations alone, so that it was taken as a mat- 
ter of course that they might not return to 
camp for the next two or three days. 

About this time something occurred at 
Camp Henderson that created no little 
anxiety on the part of its officers, and in- 
deed, before long led to very serious results. 
About six days after the departure of the 
party for Balloon Station No. 2, Commander 
Kransen was informed that, aided by two of 
the strange Eskimos, Willson had escaped 
from the camp, and that at the same time 
the entire settlement of strange Eskimos 
had also disappeared. 

Capt. Jones, when the news was brought 
to Kransen, turned to him and^ said : 

^^That fellow will make some tarnation 
trouble for us/’ 

u There is very little doubt of that,” re- 


30 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

plied Kransen. will immediately send 
a telegraphic despatch to the boys, telling 
them of Willson’s escape, and warning them 
to keep on the lookout.” 

The following despatch was therefore 
sent, directed to the boys: 

“Willson has escaped and left Camp Henderson, 
accompanied by all the strange Eskimos. Keep on 
the lookout for him,, as I think he will try to make 
trouble. ^ ^ 

“(Signed) Kransen, Commander.’’ 


CHAPTER II 


ANDREE AND ERIC ARE IMPRISONED BY THE 
ESKIMOS 



NDREE and Eric left Balloon Station 


XA. No 2 for a brief exploration of the 
neighboring portions of Grant Land early 
in the morning. The balloon had been 
finally inflated and properly equipped with 
wireless apparatus, and, in accordance with 
instructions received from Commander 
Kransen, had been packed with food, and 
other things necessary during an unexpected 
balloon voyage. Although it was not con- 
templated to use this balloon on an actual 
aerial voyage, yet Kransen had the fore- 
sight to provide for all possible contingen- 
cies. It might readily happen that, while 
some one was in the balloon making obser- 


31 


32 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

vations, or looking after some necessary de- 
tails, it miglit slip from its moorings, and 
carry its occupants where such supplies 
would be of vital importance. 

The boys had arranged to be gone for only 
a few days, as they did not expect to ex- 
amine the country for more than forty or 
fifty miles from the balloon station. They 
were accompanied by their dogs, Hector and 
Snowflake. 

As it is now about the middle of J uly, with 
the sun above the horizon during the twen- 
ty-four hours of the day, the temperature of 
the air was fairly comfortable, so that it 
was unnecessary to take a sleeping-bag or a 
tent with them. Indeed, should the air 
become cold, they could readily obtain 
the needed warmth while asleep by com- 
manding their dogs to cover or lie down on 
them, thus keeping them warm. They had 
tied the small packages of provisions, as well 
as rubber blankets, to the backs of their 


IMPRISONED BY THE ESKIMOS 33 

dogs. Since they had their rifles and re- 
volvers, they could readily obtain plenty of 
fresh meat either from the birds or from 
land animals that were plentiful at that time 
of year. j 

^‘Andree,’’ said Eric, as they walked 
briskly along the coast of Grant Land, 
^4et’s follow the coast for flve or six miles, 
and then cross the country to the stream of 
water we can see flowing toward the north- 
east*’’ 

^^All right,” replied Andree, ^^and we 
must carefully note the different kinds of 
vegetable and animal life that are to be 
found in this district, for you remember 
Mr. Henderson’s request made to uncle Lars 
in the sealed letter No. 2. What a remark- 
able man Mr. Henderson is, Eric,” he con- 
tinued, ^^and how splendid is his idea of 
commercially developing this Arctic wilder- 
ness.” 

‘^Mr. Henderson is a wonderful man, all 

3 


u 


CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 


right. As you know, we have already dis- 
covered two valuable beds of coal, a rich 
vein containing native gold, besides exceed- 
ingly valuable deposits of placer gold. 
Then, too, there are schools of whales off 
the southern shores of Kransen Island, a 
great rookery of fur seals on the northern 
coast of Hanscombe Island, besides the im- 
mense colonies of sea birds, herds of rein- 
deer, musk oxen, walruses, and other Arctic 
animals.” 

‘‘In order to succeed in the breeding of 
polar animals,” said Andree, “we must 
study their breeding habits and take meas- 
ures to provide them with their natural 
food, as well as to protect them from their 
enemies.” 

“Exactly,” said Eric; “now, to begin 
with, here is a large stream of water con- 
nected with the ocean. It should form the 
breeding place of some of the animals, ca- 
pable of producing either the valuable food 


IMPRISONED BY THE ESKIMOS 35 

products or some of the many raw materials 
of the far north/’ 

Toward noon Andree turned to Eric and 
said: 

‘^Eric, there is one kind of natural prod- 
uct we must try to obtain a specimen of as 
soon as possible.” 

‘AYhat’s that, Andree?” 

‘^A food product. I’m beginning to feel 
hungry. How do you think those birds will 
do,” he said, pointing to a flock of ducks 
that were passing over their heads. Sup- 
pose we try to shoot a couple for dinner.” 

^^All right,” said Eric, ^Tet’s shoot to- 
gether. We should certainly be able to kill 
two between us.” 

They succeeded in bringing down two of 
the birds, which they found to be long- 
tailed ducks, in excellent condition. 

There was plenty of dry moss in the 
neighborhood. Collecting a pile, and con- 
structing a rude stove, consisting of pieces 


36 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

of slate, of which there was an abundance 
projecting from the side of a hill near them, 
they kindled a fire with the moss and fed it 
with pieces of fat from the breast of one of 
the birds. In this manner the oven soon 
became heated, and they had the birds, which 
they had properly prepared, roasting. This 
dinner was greatly enjoyed not only by the 
boys, but also by the dogs, which, besides re- 
ceiving the entrails of the birds, came in for 
a share of some of the cooked meat. 

The dinner had been cooked on the banks 
of the river they had seen from the head- 
land. Its water was clear, cold and fresh, 
the channel in this part of its course being 
too far above the sea level to be reached by 
the tides in the ocean. The stream was so 
long that they were unable to see its mouth, 
although they could dimly see the ocean 
toward the northeast. On the west, how- 
ever, toward the head of the river, w^as a 
large snow-covered valley, or perhaps, more 


IMPRISONED BY THE ESKIMOS 


37 


correctly, a glacier, in the melting of which 
the river had its source. 

In this part of its course the river’s bot- 
tom was rocky and free from silt or mud. 
The water was wonderfully clear and trans- 
parent, being almost absolutely free from 
mineral matters of any kind. 

^^As we are in no hurry, Eric,” said An- 
dree, after they had finished their meal, 
^‘what do you say to following the stream 
to its source, and then, returning, follow 
it as far toward the east as we can, so as to 
return to Balloon Station No. 2 by the end 
of, say, the third day after we left it.” 

^^The plan is a good one. In this way we 
will know the stream from its source to as 
near its mouth as our time will permit, and 
should be able to obtain much valuable in- 
formation.” 

As Eric was looking at the wonderfully 
clear, cold water, he evidently had some 
project in his mind. Andree was accus- 


38 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

tomed to liis friend, and knew that when he 
fell into what he called, in a joke, day- 
dreams, Eric generally proposed something 
worth considering, was careful not to say 
anything to interrupt these thoughts. At 
last, however, after five minutes of silence, 
seeing by the expression of Eric’s counte- 
nance that he had reached some conclusion, 
he remarked in a laughing tone : 

‘^Well, Eric, what is it? AVhat tremen- 
dous scheme has that mighty brain of yours 
evolved?” 

^^Oh, come, Andree,” said Eric, good- 
naturedly, ^^what are you giving me? Stop 
poking fun at me about my mighty brain.” 

‘‘Well,” said Andree, “I’ll leave out the 
word ‘mighty,’ but will still ask what that 
brain of yours has evolved, for I clearly see 
that you have reached some kind of a con- 
clusion.” 

“Well,” said Eric, laughing, “I was 
thinking what a magnificent body of water 


IMPRISONED BY THE ESKIMOS 


39 


this would be for the breeding of sea trout 
or salmon, provided it remains unfrozen 
long enough and remains open at its mouth. 
Indeed, I would not be surprised if it was 
being employed as a breeding place by sal- 
mon, should they reach this high northern 
point. However, we will keep on the look- 
out for any fish that may be in the waters.” 

That’s a great idea, Eric,” said Andree, 
delighted with the thought. 

As already remarked, the waters of the 
stream could be traced to a large, snow-cov- 
ered valley, or possibly to a glacier situated 
on the west, at a distance of what they esti- 
mated to be from eight to ten miles. During 
certain times of the year, however, in the 
Arctic regions, when the air is unusually 
clear, it is easy to make great mistakes in 
estimating distances. After they had gone 
for at least eight miles toward the west, 
the snow-covered valley or glacier appeared 
to be almost as far off as it seemed to be 


40 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

when they first observed it near where they 
had eaten dinner. 

It is a mistaken, although very generally 
entertained idea, that there is an almost to- 
tal absence of vegetation in the lands of the 
far north. On the contrary, during the 
brief Arctic summer, owing to the continual 
presence of the sun above the horizon, day 
after day, and month after month, there re- 
sults a fairly high summer temperature. 
Moreover, since the vegetable growth does 
not cease during the night, but continues 
throughout the twenty-four hours of the 
day, there is a rapid development dur- 
ing this brief summer. The snow has 
hardly disappeared from its surface when 
the land becomes covered with a green coat- 
ing of moss, with here and there patches of 
grass. Moreover, in a wonderfully short 
time, this brownish green coating is decked 
with numerous small flowers of various 
tints, such as different kinds of saxifrages. 


IMPRISONED BY THE ESKIMOS 


41 


poppies, with their bright yellow flowers, 
clusters of blue forget-me-nots, and many 
white blossomed flowers. 

What struck the boys as being especially 
curious about these flowers was their close 
resemblance both in shape and color to the 
flowers that cover the meadows in the east- 
ern portions of the United States. But 
there was this difference: The different 
flowers of these far northern districts resem- 
bled those of the east only in miniature. 
They were, so to speak, Lilliputian copies. 
The short period of growth permitted them 
to attain dwarfish dimensions only. This 
smallness, however, did not lessen the splen- 
dor of their colors, which seemed all the 
more beautiful by reason of the marked con- 
trast with their desolate surroundings. 

As they went farther up the stream they 
saw much to interest them; although the 
sun had melted the snow from most por- 
tions of the land, large areas that had been 


42 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

covered by snowdrifts still remained un- 
melted. Walking through the soft, slushy 
covering of these places, was, therefore, a 
matter of considerable difficulty. Moreover, 
the farther they proceeded the more fre- 
quently they met these areas. 

Continuing up stream for a further dis- 
tance of four miles, they found an immense 
valley, at least thirty miles across at its 
lower end, and possibly ten miles wide near 
the upper part. The mass of ice and snow 
that tilled this valley appeared to consist, 
at least as far as its upper portion was con- 
cerned, of loose snow that had accumulated 
during the preceding winter. As they af- 
terwards discovered, however, farther be- 
low the surface, it had been converted by 
the weight of the piled up mass, into more or 
less hardened snow or, indeed, into ice. 

At this point they began walking over the 
surface of the snow for a distance of per- 
haps a quarter of a mile. Finding, how- 


IMPRISONED BY THE ESKIMOS 


43 


ever, the snow here covered by an ice mass, 
portions of which contained numerous 
cracks and crevasses, Andree said : 

‘‘Don’t you think, Eric, that it is foolish 
to continue walking here? If either of us 
should fall into a crevasse, the other might 
not be able to pull him out. Besides, I don’t 
think there is anything to be gained by 
walking over this surface.” 

“I agree with you. We have seen all 
we care to see here. Let’s retrace our steps 
and follow the stream toward its mouth.” 

They moved down the stream for the rest 
of the day. When they reached a portion 
about twenty miles below its source in the 
glacier, the stream had increased greatly in 
size. 

Both boys were now quite tired with the 
exertions of the day, so, selecting a dry spot 
underneath a protecting rock, they built a 
fire and prepared their supper. Then they 
spread their rubber blankets on the ground. 


44 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

and collecting a large pile of dried moss, 
they lay down to sleep, first calling on Hec- 
tor and Snowflake to cover them, so that in 
a short time both boys and dogs were in a 
sound sleep. 

Let us now leave the boys and go back to 
see what had taken place at Balloon Station 
No. 2. When the wireless telegraphic des- 
patch "from Camp Henderson was received, 
notifying them of the escape of Dr. Willson 
and the disappearance of the strange Es- 
kimos, and directing them to keep on the 
lookout, the electrician, an Englishman 
named George Hodges, read the despatch to 
his assistant, James Albertson, also an Eng- 
lishman, and said : 

‘‘This is an important matter, Jim. I 
don’t like the idea of the boys being away 
from the station while these fellows are wan- 
dering around. You remember that crazy 
man, Willson, don’t you, who came with the 
‘Rescue’?” 


IMPRISONED BY THE ESKIMOS 


45 


^^Yes, I remember the fellow with the 
big empty bead, who went about our camp 
making fool speeches about Commander 
Kransen, Capt. Jones, Dr. Hanscombe, and 
others. If he is around here, backed by the 
strange Eskimos there is trouble ahead. I 
would like to have him here for five min- 
utes. I should like to talk with him and 
give him a few points.’’ 

^‘Well,” remarked Hodges, with a grim 
smile, ^^you may have your wish sooner 
than you think.” 

^^Why?” inquired his assistant, ^Mo you 
think the fellow will come here?” 

^^That is exactly what I think,” was the 
reply. And that is evidently what they 
think at Camp Henderson, for the despatch 
directs us to keep a sharp lookout.” 

^^Well, then, what are you going to do?” 

^^Send a despatch at once to Camp Hen- 
derson, asking for instructions. Were it 
not for leaving this station alone, I would 


46 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

at once start off with you, try to find the 
boys, and bring them hack. If we four can 
get together, I think we could give Willson 
and his Eskimo crowd as much as they could 
do to look out for themselves.” 

That’s right,” replied his assistant, 
^‘send the despatch as soon as possible and 
ask for instructions.” 

The following despatch was therefore 
sent to Prof. Kransen: 

“Despatch about Willson and the Eskimos re- 
ceived. Mr. Andree and Mr. Eric left the Balloon 
Station early this morning with their dogs. Expect 
to be absent for two or three days. Shall I close the 
station, leave the balloon, go after them, and bring 
them back V’ 

The following despatch was soon received 
from Camp Henderson: 

“Close station. See that the balloon is tightly 
moored to the ground, and go at once with your as- 
sistant in search of the boys. Say I wish them to re- 
turn with you to the Balloon Station. Take your 
revolvers and guns. You may have occasion to use 
them. ’ ’ 


IMPRISONED BY THE ESKIMOS 4t 

The men left the station, and traveled as 
rapidly as possible in .the direction taken 
by the boys. 

Eeturning now to the boys. After an 
early breakfast next morning, they deter- 
mined to go down stream for half a day’s 
journey,, and then strike across the country 
toward Balloon Station No. 2, so as to be 
able to reach it in the three days, as they 
had promised. 

On the afternoon of the second day, while 
they were retracing their steps toward the 
Balloon Station, their dogs suddenly began 
barking furiously. 

Eric, knowing that something was ap- 
proaching, cautioned Andree to be on the 
outlook. In a few moments they heard foot- 
steps, and were surprised to see Willson, ac- 
companied by one of the strange Eskimos, 
Eric at once recognized as one of the visitors 
at Camp Henderson, that had given the au- 
thorities there considerable trouble. 


48 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

Willson approached the boys, and direct- 
ing his conversation to Eric, said : 

told you I would be revenged on you. 
Now, I’ll prove it. I’ll trouble you to hand 
me your rifles and revolvers, and do it quick, 
too.” 

There is something that goes with 
them,” said Eric, instantly unslinging his 
rifle, and aiming it at the head of Willson. 
^^That something is in the shape of a bit of 
lead. Do you want it ? Andree, get a sight 
on the Eskimo.” 

Willson did not appear to be much 
alarmed when Eric covered him with his ri- 
fle, but such was not the case with the 
strange Eskimo. He had evidently heard 
the stories told him by the Eskimos who had 
visited Camp Henderson shortly after the 
erection of the headquarters. These men 
had seen the wonderful mastery the boy had 
over his rifle, as had been shown both at the 
entertainment as well as elsewhere, and de- 


IMPRISONED BY THE ESKIMOS 


49 


lighted to tell of the manner in which he 
had slain two musk-oxen. 

‘‘Young man big angekok. Great rifle 
shot. Never misses.” 

And then he began to tell Willson of the 
wonderful feats Eric had shown while at 
Camp Henderson. 

Eric, however, who had been brought up 
on a western ranch, did not intend to lose 
the advantage of having what is called out 
west “the drop on the man.” So he said in 
a determined voice: 

“Throw up your hands. You came here 
threatening revenge, demanding that we 
give you our arms. Now, put down your 
rifles and revolvers on the ground quickly, 
or I will shoot you. Come, be quick about 
it.” 

Seeing that they had determined people 
to deal with, without hesitating any longer 
the men placed their weapons on the ground. 

“Now,” said Eric, “get out of this re- 


m CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

gion as quick as you can. If you are seen 
again around here, well shoot you.” 

Witliout saying anything, the two men 
disappeared to the south, and soon went out 
of sight behind a hill. 

^^Andree,” said Eric, ‘^pick up those 
rifles and let us return to the Balloon Sta- 
tion at once. These men have probably a 
party of Eskimos with them.” 

The boys now proceeded at a rapid rate 
toward Balloon Station No. 2. As noth- 
ing more was seen of the men the rest of the 
day, the boys began to think the men were 
alone. They determined, however, to con- 
tinue moving all that night toward the Bal- 
loon Station, for they were both in splendid 
condition, and knew they were able to con- 
tinue at a rapid gait for from twenty-four 
to thirty-six hours at a stretch. 

They had now been walking for nearly ten 
hours in the direction of Balloon Station 
No. 2. They stopped to prepare a meal, for 


IMPRISONED BY THE ESKIMOS 


51 


they were now very hungry. Andree was 
getting ready to start a fire, while Eric had 
taken his rifie and had gone away a short 
distance to see if he could not shoot a couple 
of birds for supper. The dogs had gone in 
the opposite direction from Eric’s, appar- 
ently to get a drink of water. While pass- 
ing a large rock Eric was suddenly struck 
by a stone thro\vn by an Eskimo, who had 
been in hiding back of the rock. The blow 
made him unconscious for a few moments, 
during which time his weapons had been 
taken from him, and his hands tied behind 
his back by several Eskimo men who had 
appeared from behind the rock as soon as 
Eric had fallen. 

The lad’s presence of mind, however, had 
not left him, for the moment he regained 
consciousness, as he did in a few moments, 
he thought of his friend, and cried in a loud ‘ 
voice : 

Andree, look out for yourself. They 


52 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

have taken me. Shoot them if they come 
near you.’’ 

^^Stop that, or I’ll brain you!” said a 
voice that Eric instantly recognized as that 
belonging to Dr. Willson. ‘^It’s no use of 
your calling to your companion, for he is in 
the same fix as you are. If you don’t be- 
lieve me, look and see.” 

Eric looked and saw .Andree being led to- 
ward him with his arms secured behind his 
back in the same manner as his own. There 
were now some twenty Eskimos gathered 
about Dr. Willson. The men had also suc- 
ceeded in capturing Hector and Snowfiake, 
for two men were dragging the dogs away 
with them, with ropes around their necks. 
The dogs were growling and struggling fu- 
riously to escape, for they understood' that 
their masters were being taken away from 
them. 

The Eskimos who had accompanied Dr. 
Willson were powerful men. The boys had 


IMPRISONED BY THE ESKIMOS 


53 


no difficulty in recognizing them as the 
strange Eskimos that had been living in 
snow houses near the winter headquarters 
at Camp Henderson. 

Without saying anything else to the boys, 
the men led their prisoners toward the east. 
After a rapid march of three hours they 
came to an Eskimo summer settlement, and 
were placed in a small igloo, or snow hut, 
that had evidently been recently vacated 
’ by its occupants. They were left alone in 
this house, with their hands securely bound 
behind them. Here they were thrown on 
a pile of dirty furs that covered a small 
platform in the middle of the igloo. While 
being taken to the igloo, Eric noticed that 
the place was evidently a large summer set- 
tlement, for there were some six other snow 
huts or igloos in the immediate neighbor- 
hood. 

As soon as the boys were left alone in the 
house, Andree told Eric the manner in which 


54 


CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 


the Eskimos had made him a prisoner. 
While preparing a fire, he had stooped do^vn 
to kindle a lot of dried moss he had collected, 
having first nnslung his rifie and placed it 
on the ground a short distance from the fire. 
As he was stooping down several Eskimo 
men came stealthily up behind him, and seiz- 
ing him unaware, had bound him and, after 
securing his rifie and revolver, led him to- 
ward the party, that had already captured 
Eric. 

‘‘This is a bad fix, Eric,” said Andree. 
“What do you suppose they intend to do 
with us?” 

“I do not know, but if that man Willson 
has anything to do with us, you may be sure 
that it will be both mean and cowardly.” 

The boys talked together for several 
hours, when at last they fell into a troubled 
sleep. 



















'i 

v;v 


Seized him unaware 




” Jf ^ . • Jf V \ • 

» • % 


V . 


• « 

f 


«■ 
■“ ♦ 


* ^ 


i V' 


- ■ If*, 

■■ 

JJ • *' .n , ^ ’<•5 

f. •..-•■■'■ ‘ ; 

'iiT' i..' . 

i • 

*■ . 

■ -•■ 




» « 



p-fl 



■*i •'' ^ 

< X . * •♦ 


• . ‘«k-. 




4 

y* 


r i-\ 


w 


• A 

>• 


itT ■.• ' ■ - 





•Jr* •, 




> ‘ 




■ >-*.--j v ‘>.'**- ■,*i i- 

/ - , . I •■‘'^■. ’ ♦i--*-" ;.,“ , : ?' 

I*1 i d- «■ VJ' Wi t-: 


*• ’> 


‘ ♦ CT ■ 





CHAPTER III 

MA-KIP'-SU AND KES'-SU TO THE RESCUE 

I T sometimes happens that the little events 
in one’s life, which at first sight appear 
insignificant, are in reality turning points. 
This was especially the case with Eric. For 
the sake of those who may not have read the 
other books of the North Pole Series, we 
will briefiy recall two circumstances con- 
nected with the first visit of the Eskimos to 
Camp Henderson. 

One of these was connected with the high 
esteem in which Eric was held by the Eski- 
mos by reason of his wonderful skill with 
the rifie and revolver. During the visit of 
Kransen, and others, to the summer camp of 
the Eskimos during their first year at Camp 
Henderson, Eric had killed two musk-oxen 
55 


5G CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

at a distance far greater than the Eskimos 
believed possible. They therefore held the 
lad in high esteem, calling him a mighty 
angekok, or wizard, and gravely telling him 
that they would pick out a wife for him. 
As is well known, the Eskimo regards one ’s 
ability to obtain food as the best proof of his 
standing. It was during this visit that Ma- 
kip'-su, a black-eyed girl, the daughter of 
the chief of the encampment, made no effort 
to conceal her admiration for the lad. This 
fact, being recognized by Andree, had re- 
sulted in no little chaffing, Andree declaring 
that unless Eric was careful they would 
marry him off to the dark-eyed lassie. 

The other circumstance was connected 
with an Eskimo boy, Kes'-su, another of the 
first visitors at Camp Henderson. Kes'-su 
was then about fourteen years of age. He 
was the boy for whom Dr. Stone, while ex- 
hibiting the powers of an electro-magnetic 
machine, had materially decreased its 


MA-KIP'-SU AND KES'-SU 


57 


strength, in order to permit him to take 
a penknife out of a vessel filled with water. 
Since^several strong men among the visitors 
had been unable to do this, the lad was very 
proud of his prize, and this was all the more 
so, because knives are much sought after by 
the Eskimos. 

It happened that both of these Eskimos, 
who belonged to another encampment, were 
present as visitors at the encampment where 
Eric and Andree were taken while prison- 
ers. Ma-kip'-su and Kes'-su were on their 
way to Camp Henderson with some of their 
people who had gone directly to the camp, 
but the boy and girl had stopped to visit 
some of their friends at this encampment. 
Ma-kip'-su and Kes'-su were related to each 
other, and had arranged to go on together 
to Camp Henderson in a few days. 

When Andree and Eric were brought in 
as prisoners to the encampment, both Ma- 
kip'-su and Kes'-su instantly recognized 


68 


CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 


them, especially Eric, who had made a 
strong impression on the boy, as well as on 
the girl. They were, however, sharp 
enough to keep to themselves the fact that 
they knew the prisoners. 

As soon as they had an opportunity to 
speak without being observed, Ma-kip'-su 
said to Kes'-su : 

‘^Kes'-su, find out for Ma-kip'-su where 
they have taken the two Newfoundland dogs, 
and if you hear what they intend to do to 
the boys come and tell me.’’ 

‘‘Will Ma-kip'-su try to help the young 
angekok and his friend'?” inquired the lad. 

“Yes,” was the reply; “will you help 
them also, Kes'-su^” 

“Kes'-su likes the white people. They 
were kind to him and gave him this,” he 
said, proudly showing the penknife. “Kes'- 
su will help Ma-kip'-su.” 

“Don’t let the men know you are trying 
to find out anything,” said Ma-kip-su to the 


MA-KIP'-SU AND KES'-SU 


59 


young lad. “Let me know where the dogs 
are kept, and what the people say about the 
great young angekok and his friend.’’ 

All people like to gossip, and this, no mat- 
ter in what part of the world they live, or 
whether they are highly civilized, or, like 
the poor Eskimos, only partly civilized. It 
was, therefore, easy for both the girl and the 
boy to hear what was said about the two 
prisoners, for their arrival had set the 
tongues of all the Eskimos wagging. 

They soon learned that the great white 
angekok (Dr. Willson) had been trying to 
make the Eskimos believe that all the white 
people at Camp Henderson were very dan- 
gerous, and had visited this part of the 
world, not only to kill all the walruses, 
musk-oxen, seals, and other things on which 
the Eskimos lived, but also, after making 
the Eskimos work for them, to carry them 
away in their great vessel to distant lands, 
where they would sell them as slaves. He 


60 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

was especially trying to raise their anger 
against the young, white angekok, Eric. 

It appeared, however, that while the men 
with whom Dr. Willson had left Camp 
Henderson regarded Willson as a great 
angekok, much jealousy existed between 
Willson and the principal Eskimo angekok, 
for the doctor’s coming had led the Eskimos 
to esteem their angekok much less than for- 
merly. In order to win the Eskimo ange- 
kok over to him, Willson had agreed that 
the latter should hold a great pow-wow, dur- 
ing which he was to inquire both of the good 
and the bad spirits of the Eskimos what they 
wished done with the prisoners. 

Meanwhile, Kes'-su had learned that the 
Eskimos, greatly pleased with the two mag- 
nificent Newfoundland dogs, had chained 
them near their settlement. That the dogs, 
scenting their masters, had become almost 
frantic in their efforts to reach them, so that 
it had become necessary to remove the dogs 


MA-KIP'-SU AND KES'-SU 61 

to a snow kennel nearly a quarter of a mile 
from their encampment, where they had 
been left in charge of an old woman. 

The boys awakened early next morning, 
but little refreshed by their sleep. Be- 
sides the worry and excitement natural un- 
der their circumstances, they had passed a 
miserable night, both because the igloo was 
in a filthy condition, the furs on which they 
had been thrown being almost alive with ver- 
min. 

They had unsuccessfully endeavored to 
loosen their bonds, but the great pieces of 
rawhide were too strong for them to break, 
and successfully resisted the efforts of their 
teeth when either of them would roll up to 
his companion in such a position as to per- 
mit attacking the Imot with his teeth. ISToth- 
ing but a knife could have helped him. 

They were both hungry and thirsty, and 
began to fear it was the intention of their 
captors to permit them to starve to death. 


62 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

They were, therefore, greatly relieved when 
an Eskimo woman came into the igloo with 
water and food, and inquired : 

‘‘White men hungry and thirsty^’’ 

Eric, who now understood the Eskimo 
tongue fairly well, said : 

“Yes, I see you have brought food and 
drink for the great white angekok and his 
friend.’’ 

“I have,” replied the woman. 

‘-‘Then loosen our hands so we can eat.” 

The woman appeared to have no objec- 
tions to doing this, and in a short time un- 
tied their hands. The first thing the boys 
did when their hands were free was to 
quench their thirst by a drink of fairly fresh 
water. They then partook of a meal of wal- 
rus soup. 

As soon as they had finished their meal, 
Willson came into the igloo with two big 
Eskimos and informed the boys that their 
fate was to be decided that night by their 


MA-KIP'-SU AND KES'-SU 


63 


great Eskimo angekok, who would find out 
what both the good and the bad spirits of 
the Eskimos demanded should be done to 
them. 

‘‘It will be more than probable,” replied 
Willson in an ugly tone, “that they will de- 
cide that you should be Idlled. If they per- 
mit you to live, they will most likely order 
that you be taken to the Eskimo settlement 
some four or five hundred miles to the south, 
where you may never expect to' see your 
friends again.” 

Eric made no effort to conceal his con- 
tempt for Willson, but he did not giv€ him 
the satisfaction of saying anything. See- 
ing this, Willson retired with his men, say- 
ing to the boys: 

“I will leave your hands untied. You 
may try to escape, if you choose. Indeed, 
I hope you will try to do so, for there are 
men outside who are ordered to kill you 
should you make any attempt to get away.” 


64 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

They received a plentiful supply of food 
and water from the old woman, who came 
into the igloo at irregular intervals. 

That night the boys were taken into the 
largest igloo, where the pow-wow as held, 
during which the Eskimo angekok was to 
learn from the good and bad spirits what 
should be done with their prisoners. 

The boys were permitted to attend this 
meeting not only because Willson wished to 
fiighten them, but especially because the Es- 
kimo people insisted on having the prisoners 
present, so that they could enjoy the terror 
which they believed they would exhibit. 

Although it was daylight on the outside, 
this being the month of July, the inside of 
the igloo was so dark that it was necessary 
to keep several oil lamps burning. The Es- 
kimo angekok, who had removed his coat 
and shirt, and was naked from his hips up, 
held two large spears in his hand. He or- 
dered the lights to be extinguished, and be- 


MA-KIP'-SU AND KES'-SU 


65 


gan a weird dance in the middle of the igloo, 
all the time uttering words none of the au- 
dience could understand, and which he prob- 
ably did not understand himself. In the 
meanwhile, both men and women, especially 
the latter, began crying out, beseeching the 
good and bad spirits not to injure them, but 
to tell their angekok what they wished done 
to the prisoners. This noise was kept up 
for fully half an hour. 

The angekok now ordered the lamps to be 
relighted, when, taking one of the spears, 
he thrust it deep into the ground near the 
middle of the igloo, and then, after some 
additional incantations, he did the same 
thing with the other spear, and shortly af- 
terwards pulling them up showed that their 
points were covered with blood. 

A partial silence now came over the meet- 
ing. The angekok standing upright raised 
himself on his toes as if listening to a com- 
munication from the good spirits from 
6 


G6 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

above. After standing in this position for 
a fe^v moments he kneeled on the ground, 
holding his ear near it, in order to receive 
the message from the evil spirits. 

The angekok now made a sign to the peo- 
ple in the room, indicating that he was ready 
to inform them of the fate of the prisoners. 
There was, therefore, a deep silence when 
he spoke as follows: 

^‘The good and bad spirits declare that 
both the prisoners are powerful angekoks, 
who must be taken many hundreds of miles 
away to the south. They command that if 
the prisoners try to escape they shall be 
killed.” 

'‘That means,” said Eric, "that Willson 
intends that we shall both die.” 

"I think you are right,” replied Andree, 
quietly. 

"Well, if we are to be killed, let’s meet 
our fate bravely. I will not give that cow- 
ardly brute, Willson, the satisfaction of be- 


MA-KIP'-SU AND KES'-SU 67 

lievilig that we are frightened or fear to 
die.’^ 

The boys were returned to the igloo, 
where they were left. From the noise they 
heard in the encampment it would appear 
that all the Eskimos were having a great old 
time, drinking and eating, after their reli- 
gious exercises. 

Notwithstanding the dangerous position 
in which they were, the boys, after talking 
together for several hours, at last fell into 
a fairly sound sleep. 

Early next morning, while everyone in 
the encampment appeared to be in a deep 
sleep, a light hand was placed on Eric’s 
mouth. Instantly awakening, Eric looked 
up and recognized the young girl, Ma-kip'- 
su. 

‘^Ma-kip'-su says to the great white ange- 
kok, get up. His enemies intend to kill him 
to-morrow when they say they will take him 
to the far south. They will tell the people 


68 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

that he tried to escape, and that they there- 
fore killed him, as the good and bad spirits 
of the Eskimos told them to do. ” 

In a little while Andree was awakened, 
and Ma-kip'-su led the boys outside past two 
Eskimo men who were lying in a deep slum- 
ber in front of the long opening leading into 
the igloo. They had in their hands spears 
with which they had intended to kill the 
boys if they should catch them trying to es- 
cape. 

Ma-kip'-su, pointing to the men, made 
signs to the boys, by which they understood 
that she had put something in their drink 
that had caused them to fall into a deep 
sleep. 

Following Ma-kip'-su, the boys were soon 
far beyond the encampment of the Eskimos. 
Here they met the boy, Kes'-su, who was 
holding in his hands their rifles, revolvers, 
and ammunition belts, together with their 
chronometers, or watches, and other articles 


MA-KI?'-SU AND KES'-SU 


69 


that had been taken from them by the Es- 
kimos. 

Thank yon, Kes'-sn,” said both the boys. 

Hurry away,’’ said Ma-kip'-su. ^^Men 
may come. Ma-kip'-su glad to aid the great 
white angekok. Ma-kip'-su glad to save his 
life and the life of his friend.” 

Eric, speaking in as low a tone as he could, 
said to Ma-kip'-su : 

We ’ll never forget the great service you 
have rendered us,” and taking the hand of 
the Eskimo girl in his, he pressed his lips 
against it. 

Ma-kip'-su, who was greatly affected, 
said : 

‘^Good-bye, great white angekok. Go 
quickly. Men may come.” 

The boys turned to thank Kes'-su, but the 
lad had disappeared. In a few moments, 
however, they saw him coming, followed by 
the two Newfoundland dogs. Hector and 
Snowflake. Both animals were almost fran- 


70 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

tic with joy to see their masters again, and 
resting their great paws on the boys’ shoul- 
ders, began to lick them with their tongues. 

Great white angekoks good men,” said 
Ma-kip'-su and Kes'-su. Their dogs love 
them. Would not love them unless they 
were good to them.” 

The boys now bid their friends good-bye, 
and broke into a rapid walk, or rather a run, 
toward Baloon Station No. 2. 

^‘They shall never take me again,” said 
Eric. shall not hesitate to shoot them 
should they again endeavor to take us pris- 
oners. ’ ’ 

“lam with you there,” replied Andree. 
“I am sure they intended to kill us, as Ma- 
kip'-su said. ” 

When they reached a point about a quar- 
ter of a mile from the Balloon Station they 
saw, by the behavior of the dogs, that they 
were being followed. Both boys were swift 
runners, and starting off on a swinging gait 


MA-KIP'-STJ AND KES'-SU 


n\ 


to the Balloon Station, they reached it be- 
fore their pursuers came in sight. Quickly 
climbing into the basket of the balloon and 
calling to their dogs to follow them, they 
began unfastening the strong hempen cable 
that held the balloon to the ground. While 
doing this something fell off the balloon 
into the water, apparently having been dis- 
placed by the dogs as they jumped into the 
car. These articles thus thrown from the 
balloon were the Euhmikorff coil and the 
voltaic battery belonging to the wireless 
telegraphic apparatus. 

u There goes our Euhmkorff coil and bat- 
tery. This loss will make it impossible for 
us to communicate with Camp Henderson 
by wireless telegraphy. Shall I climb down 
to the ground and get it. It has not fallen 
into very deep water.” 

''No, Eric,” replied Andree, ''see, there 
is Dr. Willson ahead of the rest and is aim- 
ing a revolver at us or at the balloon.” 


72 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

will stop that,” replied Eric, won’t 
kill him. I’ll put a rifle ball through his 
right hand,” and then aiming his rifle at 
the doctor, apparently without taking any 
very deliberate aim, he pulled the trigger, 
and almost instantly. Dr. Willson dropped 
his revolver, which exploded on touching the 
ground, the ball, however, passing harm- 
lessly under the balloon. At the same time 
the doctor held his right hand in a position 
showing that it had been injured. The ball 
had evidently severed the radial artery, for 
they could see jets of blood being thrown out 
from the wrist evidently in unison with the 
beating of his heart, and collecting in a pool 
at his feet. 

Taking a white silk handkerchief from 
his pocket the doctor tore it in halves, tying 
one half tightly around the wrist to check 
the flow of blood and permitting the other 
half to fall to the ground. 

‘‘You miserable coward,” shouted Eric, 


MA-KIP'-SU AND KES'-SU IS 

from the balloon, have again spared your 
life. I doubt that you will ever make an- 
other autopsy with that hand.” 

By this time some of the Eskimos had 
reached Dr. Willson. They stopped around 
him a moment to aid him in checking the flow 
of blood. The boys took this opportunity 
of endeavoring to unloosen the balloon from 
its moorings. Finding a difficulty in doing 
this, Andree cut the hempen cable with his 
knife, when the balloon, thus liberated, rose 
rapidly in the air. This time the wind was 
blowing from the southeast so the balloon 
moved quickly toward the north. 


CHAPTER IV 


SORKOW AT CAMP HENDERSON 

W HEN the electrician, Hodges, with 
his assistant, James Albertson, left 
Balloon Station No. 2, to overtake the boys, 
they walked rapidly along the coast to- 
ward the west in the direction they had 
seen the boys take. Since they had watched 
them from the Balloon with a pair of opera 
glasses they knew the exact direction of the 
first parts of their course. 

Since portions of the ground were still 
covered with snow they had but little diffi- 
culty in afterwards following the boys’ foot- 
steps when they crossed the snow-covered 
patches, and even in places that were un- 
covered, it was easy for a bright man to 
follow their footsteps. It happened that 
74 


SORROW AT CAMP HENDERSON 


Hodges was especially able to interpret these 
signs, since, before coming to America to 
study electricity, he had been employed as 
a detective in the great Scotland- Yard Po- 
lice Department in London. When they 
came to the bank of the river they soon came 
to the ingenious stove Eric had formed from 
pieces of slate and in which they had cooked 
the long-tailed duck. When Hodges saw 
this stove he remarked : 

^‘What clever chaps the lads are! See; 
they have been cooking something to eat. 
Now let’s see if we can trace their foot- 
steps.” 

Hodges saw almost at once that at this 
point there were two sets of footprints on 
the side of the fire toward the source of the 
stream in the snow valley or glacier, and but 
one set in the direction toward its mouth. 
He had, therefore, no difficulty in drawing 
the correct conclusion. 

‘^Jim,” he said, ‘‘let’s follow the foot- 


76 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

steps leading down the stream. They have 
first gone up stream and afterwards down 
it.’’ 

They rapidly followed these footsteps in 
silence, but could see no signs of the boys. 
At last they reached the place where the 
boys had been taken prisoners by Willson 
and his Eskimos. 

At this point there was a confusion of 
footsteps of many different sizes, showing 
that a number of men had come up to the 
boys. 

‘‘I don’t like the looks of this,” said 
Hodges. ^‘The Eskimos have caught up to 
the boys.” 

There was no lack . of evidence that 
something unusual had occurred at this 
spot, which was where Andree had made 
preparations for starting a fire. They saw 
the collected pile of moss, which had never 
been kindled. Moreover, near the fire they 
found an unlighted safety match. Then 


SORROW AT CAMP HENDERSON 77 

the ground around the fire had been tram- 
pled by many feet, and there were signs 
that a struggle had taken place. 

A little farther on they discovered an- 
other collection of footprints that gave evi- 
dences of another struggle. Carefully ex- 
amining the ground here a button was found 
by Albertson, who, looking at it, handed it 
to his companion, remarking: 

George, do you recognize that?” 

‘^Sure, Jim,” was the reply, ‘Hhat is one 
of the buttons from the younger lad’s coat. 
I remember seeing buttons like this on Mr. 
Eric’s coat while he was working with the 
wireless apparatus on the balloon. Jim,” 
he added, ^ there’s no doubt the boys have 
been taken prisoners by the Eskimos.” 

^ ^ Then, ’ ’ replied - his companion, ^ ‘ let ’s 
follow, and do what we can to set them 
free.” 

They followed the footsteps as well as 
they could but soon lost sight of them, since 


78 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

the ground at this point was unusually hard 
and free from snow, with practically noth- 
ing to give them a clew. 

‘‘Let’s hurry back to the balloon station,” 
said Hodges, “and wire Camp Henderson 
what we have discovered. As soon as the 
Camp gets word, they will send out parties, 
who will try to come up to the Eskimos and 
set the boys free. ’ ’ 

They were now only a few hours from the 
balloon station, when Hodges, suddenly 
pointing toward the station, said : 

“Look at that column of black smoke, 
Jim. I am afraid we are too late.” 

Breaking now into a run, they soon 
reached the station. What they saw great- 
ly alarmed them. The balloon had disap- 
peared. Instead of the partly completed, 
but substantially built wooden building they 
had left, there was nothing but its ruins, 
from which a column of smoke was rising. 
But there were no signs either of the Es- 


SORROW AT CAMP HENDERSON 


79 


kimos or of the boys, who had left fully 
three-quarters of an hour before. 

^^See here, Jim,’’ said Hodges, reaching 
a spot where a pool of blood had been left 
by the rifle wound made in the Doctor’s 
hand, ^‘here is a pool of blood, but whose 
blood is it, that of the boys or that of some 
of the Eskimos.” 

This discovery greatly excited them. The 
assistant at once declared they should at 
once take word of what had occurred to 
Camp Henderson. 

That’s all right, Jim,” said Hodges, 
^‘but let us first look around here and see 
what we can learn, for, of course, they will 
ask all kinds of questions as soon as we 
reach the camp.” 

Hodges now made a close examination 
of the place. He first carefully looked at 
what was left of the hempen cable that had 
been employed for securing the balloon to 
the ground, and said : 


80 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

‘‘Jim, the cable has been cut by a knife. 
The balloon, has therefore risen in the air. 
We may still be able to see it in the skies.’’ 
But the balloon which, of course, by this 
time, was far out of their sight, could not 
be seen. They therefore concluded that it 
had been set on fire, and then cut free. 

Eeturning to the pool of blood, Hodges 
picked up in its neighbourhood, half of the 
white silk handkerchief that Willson had 
employed for tying up his wrist to stop 
the fiow of blood. 

“Jim,” he said, “look at this handker- 
chief. And look at this,” he added, point- 
ing to the initials, H. W., that had been 
carefully embroidered in one of the corners, 
“do you know whose initials they are'?” he 
asked of his companion. 

“No, whose are they'?” he inquired. 

“Henry Willson’s.” 

They continued carefully examining the 
place, but did not find anything else. They 


SORROW AT CAMP HENDERSON 81 

were about leaving the station to go to 
Camp Henderson, when they suddenly heard 
the barking of dogs and the shouting of 
sledge drivers. 

‘^Here come the sledges from Camp Hen- 
derson,” said Jim. 

When the sledges approached, the boat- 
swain, Hjalmar Gorgsen, who had been 
placed in command of the men, seeing no 
balloon, and the smouldering ruins of the 
station, inquired in an excited tone : 

^^What has happened? Where is the bal- 
loon ? Where are the boys ? ’ ’ 

^^They appear to have been taken prison- 
ers by the Eskimos, who left Camp Hen- 
derson with Willson. See here,” he said, 
leading the men to the pool of blood, and 
showing them the half of the handkerchief, 
‘‘do you know that handkerchief?” 

“Yes,” replied Gorgsen, “Willson had 
such a handkerchief when I locked him up 
in a room at Camp Henderson. Of course, 
6 


82 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

before leaving him, I carefully examined all 
he had in his pockets, and among them was 
a handkerchief like this/’ 

In the meanwhile, Joe, the Eskimo sledge 
driver, who was very much attached to the 
boys, and had been carefully examining the 
ground, suddenly looked up and said : 

‘^See, dog marks,” and then added some- 
thing in an excited tone in Eskimo that 
Heinrich, the fisherman, who formed a part 
of the sledge party, and who acted as an in- 
terpreter for the Eskimo language, trans- 
lated as follows : 

^‘Joe says that he believes that these 
marks are the marks of two Newfoundland 
dogs belonging to the boys.” 

While they were examining the marks, 
Joe’s sharp eyes saw something shining in 
the water near the coast. 

Stepping into the water, which was shal- 
low near the shore, Joe picked up, one after 
another, the Ruhmkorff coil, and several 


SORROW AT CAMP HENDERSON 83 

voltaic batteries, that bad been emplo^^ed in 
tlie operation of tlie coil forming a part of 
tbe wireless apparatus on the balloon. 

^^This looks bad,” said Hjalmar, ‘^it 
would seem that an attempt has been made 
to destroy the balloon which may have been 
set on fire and then liberated by cutting the 
cables, as it has risen into the air and drifted 
out of sight. Let us hurry back to Camp 
Henderson. I am sure that as soon as 
Commander Kransen learns what we know 
he will send a party to rescue the boys if 
living, or to avenge them if dead.” 

All right,” said Hodges, ^‘but before we 
do this, let us be sure that neither the boys 
nor the Eskimos are anywhere in the neigh- 
borhood, and let us see if the basket of the 
balloon has drifted to any part of the coast.” 

In accordance with this suggestion, they 
divided themselves into two parties and 
carefully searched the country for miles 
around. Their search was, however, un- 


84 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

successful. So they soon set out sorrow- 
fully for Camp Henderson, without unload- 
ing their sledges. 

When Ma-kip'-su and Kes'-su bade the 
boys good-bye they stood for a few mo- 
ments looking after them as they went to- 
ward the balloon station, and then both 
started on a run toward the encampment of 
the Eskimos, which they reached about half 
an hour afterwards. They did not wish the 
Eskimos to know they had taken any part 
in the release of the prisoners. Slipping 
into the encampment unobserved, they were 
both in an apparently deep slumber in their 
igloo. Several hours afterwards, when it 
was learned that the prisoners had escaped, 
there was no suspicion against them, since 
the Eskimos had much trouble in awakening 
them. 

When Willson and the pursuing Eskimos 
returned to the encampment, Ma-kip'-su and 
Kes'-su saw that the boys were not with 


SORROW AT CAMP HENDERSON 85 

them they were greatly pleased, believing 
that they had escaped. But while they were 
returning, Willson persuaded the men with 
him to say that they had overtaken the hoys 
and in accordance with the instructions re- 
ceived from the good and bad spirits they 
had killed them and thrown their bodies in 
the deep water of the ocean in front of the 
balloon station. That they had burned the 
balloon station, destroyed the wireless ap- 
paratus, and, after setting fire to the bal- 
loon, they cut the cable close to the ground. 
That the balloon had risen rapidly in the 
air, moving off toward the north until it had 
entirely disappeared. 

Ma-kip'-su and Kes'-su were deeply af- 
fected by the bad news of the death of the 
boys, which they thoroughly believed. Bid- 
ding their friends good-bye, they left the 
Eskimo encampment and started off for 
Camp Henderson to tell the great white 
chief the bad news they had learned. 


86 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

The wireless despatch from Balloon Sta- 
tion No. 2, saying that the boys had left the 
station to be absent for several days, and 
asking for instructions had been received. 
Alarmed for the safety of the boys, Kransen 
read the message aloud to Dr. Hanscombe 
and Capt. Jones, who were with him in the 
wireless station. When he heard the des- 
patch, Hanscombe said : 

“This is very bad. I fear the men will 
overtake the boys and do them some harm.’’ 

“Commander, don’t worry,” said Capt. 
Jones. “I’ll back our boys to take care of 
themselves. They have their rifles and their 
revolvers. Remember what a wonderful 
shot Mr. Eric is. I wouldn’t hanker being 
one of a party to try to injure him, when 
he had his shooting irons handy.” 

Dr. Hanscombe was greatly worried and 
said to Kransen: 

“Better wire instructions to the men to 
shut the balloon station, try to oyertake the 


SORROW AT CAMP HENDERSON 


87 


boys, and bring them back to the station. 
While I agree with Captain Jones that they 
ought to be able to make a stand against 
Willson and his Eskimos, yet if the four 
come together they will be much safer. ’ ’ So 
the message was sent as already stated. 

Kransen had been in a deep study for the 
last few minutes, but at last looked up and 
said: 

^‘Hanscombe, I will take two of the 
sledges and start with a party for the bal- 
loon station. I don’t feel like waiting here. 
Since the men have left the balloon station 
we can’t expect to hear from them for prob- 
ably a day or so.” 

That’s a good move, Kransen,” said 
Hanscombe, ‘4f you have no objections, I 
would like to go with you.” 

^‘Come along by all means,” said Kran- 
sen. 

In a short time the party left the camp. 

Since much of Grant Land is covered in 


88 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

places by an almost permanent ice sheet, the 
sledging party, like the previous parties, 
was able by picking its way over snow cov- 
ered surfaces, for the greater part of their 
journey, although in some places they were 
obliged to help the teams move the sledges 
over nearly dry ground. 

When they reached a point about forty 
miles west of Camp Henderson, they saw 
two Eskimos approaching them. Kransen, 
who always carried powerful glasses with 
him, after looking at the two people, said to 
Dr. Hanscombe : 

I think I remember seeing those people 
last year in our camp.” 

‘Wes,” said Hanscombe, who had also 
been examining them with his glasses,” 
“they are the girl, Ma-kip'-su, who Andree 
declared had fallen in love with Eric, and 
the boy, Kes'-su.” 

As soon as the two Eskimos approached 
they went to Com. Kransen and began say- 


SORROW AT CAMP HENDERSON 80 

ing something excitedly in the Eskimo lan- 
guage. Hans Minnemann, the hunter, who 
acted as interpreter in the absence of Hein- 
rich, said to Kransen : 

^‘They bring terrible news. They say 
that the Eskimos, accompanied by Willson, 
have burned Balloon Station No. 2, de- 
stroyed the balloon, murdered the boys, and 
thrown their bodies into the deep water of 
the ocean near the balloon station.’^ 

‘^My God,’’ said Kransen, ‘Hhis is aw- 
ful, ’ ’ and then instantly inquired of the two 
Eskimos for the particulars. 

In reply to these questions, the boy and 
girl gave a full accomit as to how they had 
helped the prisoners to escape from the Es- 
kimo encampment; how they had returned 
to them their rifles and revolvers, as well as 
their dogs. They explained about the pow- 
wow, when the Eskimo angekok declared 
that the good and bad spirits had sentenced 
the boys to be carried so far to the south 


90 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

that they would never again be able to see 
their friends, and ordering the Eskimos to 
kill them should they attempt to escape. 

It therefore appeared that the boys had 
been overtaken by their pursuers and mur- 
dered. 

‘‘Let’s hurry toward the balloon station 
and see what has become of the two men who 
left there in search of the boys. They may 
have some information,” said Commander 
Kransen. “We also have to meet the sledge 
party that set out for the station with the 
material necessary for the completion of the 
quarters. These men may also have news. 
As soon as this is done and we learn what 
they have to tell us, we will proceed to the 
Eskimo encampment and punish the men 
for what they have done to our dear boys.” 

The party now moved rapidly toward 
the west. In about half an hour, they saw 
Hjalmar and the two electricians from the 
Balloon Station No. 2 approaching them. 


SORROW AT CAMP HENDERSON 91 

It was a sad meeting between the two par- 
ties. The news brought by Ma-kip'-su and 
Kes'-su agreed so closely with what had al- 
ready been learned by Hodges and Albert- 
son, that it did not seem as if any doubt 
could exist but that the boys had been mur- 
dered and their bodies thrown into the ocean. 

Hanscombe and Kransen recognized the 
button that had been found as being the 
same as those on Eric’s coat. They, there- 
fore, hurried to the Balloon Station and 
spent several hours in an examination, of 
the place and its surroundings. The ocean, 
though quite shallow near the shore, was 
very deep at short distances from it. Hav- 
ing no grappling irons with them they were 
unable to make ^ satisfactory search of the 
water, but Kransen determined to return at 
an early date to the neighborhood with a 
gasoline motor boat and make a careful 
search with properly prepared grappling 


irons. 


92 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

And now,’^ lie said, in a determined tone, 
^Sve will go to the encampment and avenge 
the murder of the boys. 

Under the guidance of Ma-kip'-su and 
Kes'-su they reached the Eskimo encamp- 
ment in good time. The place, however, w^as 
entirely deserted. Knowing that the great 
white chief from the east would come and 
punish them for killing the two boys, as 
they believed they had done, they all sud- 
denly left the encampment for some un- 
known point. 

On their return to the Balloon Station a 
further search was made in the deep water 
for the bodies of the boys. A rude grap- 
pling iron having been constructed for this 
purpose. It was unnecessary, however, to 
say that this search was unsuccessful. 

When he finally gave up the search Kran- 
sen said : 

‘^Although I fear the boys are dead, yet 
until I actually see their bodies, I shall 


SORROW AT CAMP HENDERSON 93 

never give up searching for them. I now 
have no desire to return to the east, but shall 
remain in this part of the world not only 
until I thoroughly carry out all that Mr. 
Henderson wishes me to accomplish, but I 
shall remain here even afterwards, for the 
boys may not be dead. Indeed, something 
tells me they are still living.’’ 

‘^And I shall remain with you,” ex- 
claimed Hanscombe. feel about this 
matter as you do, I shall never give up 
searching for the boys until I either find 
them or their dead bodies.” 

And if you will let me remain with you,” 
said Hjalmar, ‘‘I will help you in this 
search.” 

Joe now came to Prof. Kransen and said 
through the interpreter : 

^Hf Newfoundland dogs here, they would 
help find the boys.” 

should not be surprised if there is 
something in that,” remarked Kransen. 


94 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

It was, therefore, determined to send out 
a party with J oe to scour the country to the 
south and try to find the Newfoundland 
dogs if possible. 


CHAPTER V 


AN AKCTIC BALLOON VOYAGE 

r~|^HE balloon had ceased rising and was 
now being rapidly carried by the 
Avind toward the north. Andree, to whom 
Eric had handed the glasses, looking 
through them saw that the remainder of the 
Eskimos had joined Willson. They all be- 
gan looting the station, and afterwards set 
it on fire. At this moment, Andree said in 
an excited tone to Eric : 

^‘Eric, that man, Willson, is helping the 
Eskimos to set fire to the station. One 
might excuse such ignorant people as the 
Eskimos for destroying property, but for 
an educated man like Dr. Willson to do this 
surprises me. Here, Eric,’’ he said, hand- 
05 


% CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

ing him the glasses, ‘^please look, I want 
yon to see this yourself/^ 

Eric looked through the glasses, and al- 
though the balloon was rapidly moving 
away from the station he could distinctly 
see Willson aiding the Eskimos in firing the 
place. He noticed, however, that the doctor 
had the use of his left hand only. 

‘‘Yes, Andree,’’ he replied, “I see. Will- 
son is not only setting fire to the building, 
but he is also aiding in the stealing of the 
property of the expedition.’’ 

“'How idiotic,” remarked Andree. 
“What good will it do him? Suppose he 
succeeded in destroying everything at Camp 
Henderson as well as at the balloon station, 
what advantage would that be to him?” 

“If that’s a conundrum, Andree, I give 
it up. It is too hard to say what a man of 
the calibre of Dr. Willson would not be will- 
ing to do in order to satisfy his insane de- 
sire for revenge.” 


AN ARCTIC BALLOON VOYAGE OY 

By this time the rapidly moving balloon 
had carried them so far from the station 
that they had difficulty in distinguishing 
objects clearly. They could see, however, 
that the partly finished house was burning 
fiercely, when the Eskimos moved rapidly 
away from the station toAvard the southwest. 
At last the distance became so great that 
they could see only the faint outline of the 
headland with a slender column of smoke 
rising from the site of the balloon station. 

They now had an opportunity to examine 
the condition of the balloon, as well as to 
look at the supply of provisions and other 
articles of food Kransen had directed to be 
placed in it. 

Finding the balloon in good condition 
Eric gave his attention to the examination 
of the wireless apparatus. These appeared 
to be in good condition, with the important 
exception of the Buhmkorff coil and the 
voltaic battery. 

7 


98 


CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 


is very unfortunate,’’ said Eric. 
‘‘This loss will prevent us from sending a 
wireless message to Camp Henderson, in- 
forming them of our escape. It is of the ut- 
most importance they should know that we 
have escaped. They should especially be 
warned of the astonishing, behavior of Will- 
son and his Eskimos.” 

“You don’t suppose, Eric, that Camp 
Henderson will have any trouble in defend- 
ing themselves against these fellows?” 

“Defending themselves,” said Eric in as- 
tonishment. “Why one-fifth of our people 
at Camp Henderson armed with repeating 
rifies and brains could wipe those fellows 
off. the face of the earth.” 

“Are you sure, Eric, there are no extra 
batteries or Ruhmkorff coils in the bal- 
loon?” 

“I don’t think it likely, but let’s look. I 
remember superintending the placing of 
stores in the balloon, and I ’m almost certain 


AN ARCTIC BALLOON VOYAGE 


99 


that there are no extra parts for the wire- 
less apparatus.’’ 

A careful examination lasting nearly an 
hour, brought the disheartening realization 
that he was right. 

There is not even the battery necessary 
for operating the receiving apparatus,” re- 
marked Eric. 

An examination of their stores showed 
that, besides food and water, sufficient, with 
care, for several weeks, they were provided 
with an aneroid barometer for estimating 
the height of the balloon in the air, thermom- 
eters for taking the temperature, as well 
as various other meteorological apparatus. 
There was also a sextant for obtaining their 
latitude, so that with their chronometers, 
which they had wound up shortly before 
they had been taken from them by the Es- 
kimos, they could readily calculate their 
longitude. But what especially pleased the 
boys was that among these supplies was a 


t. OF C. 


100 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

large quantity of loaded shells, employed in 
their magazine, rifles and revolvers. 

course, Eric,” said Andree, ‘^we will 
try to return to Camp Henderson as soon as 
possible 

‘‘Certainly, Andree, but, since the ice 
field below us contains fairly large areas of 
open water, we had better not attempt to 
land just now. Besides, our enemies can 
see our balloon much better than we can see 
them. They are probably on the lookout 
for us, and should we descend they might at- 
tempt to recapture us and it is not likely 
that we could again escape.” 

“That would, indeed, be a serious mat- 
ter,” remarked Andree. “We have seen 
too much for them to permit us to live, even 
if they had not the bad advice of that blood- 
thirsty fellow, Willson.” 

‘ ‘ They shall never again capture us 
alive,” remarked Eric, in a grave tone. 
“The next time I shoot at those men, it will 


AN ARCTIC BALLOON VOYAGE 


101 


not be for tlie purpose of merely maiming, 
but for killing them. ’ ’ 

Both Eric and Andree knew that if the 
wind near the surface is blowing in a cer- 
tain direction, that they would probably 
find above them an upper current blowing 
in the opposite direction. By rising high 
enough, therefore, they would reasonably 
hope to reach a current that would carry 
them back again to the south. 

“It will be safest to continue moving as 
we are for another half hour and then try 
to find an upper current that will carry us 
toward Grant Land. ’ ’ 

Up to this time the boys had been too 
busy to talk much with each other. Now, 
however, they had the chance to go into de- 
tails over their recent exciting experiences. 
They fully recognized the grave dangers to 
which they had been exposed, and how nar- 
rowly they had escaped being murdered. 
They had no reasonable doubt that Willson 


102 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

had iDlanned to have them killed, under some 
pretense or other. They felt under great 
obligations to their young Eskimo friends, 
Ma-kip'-su and Kes'-su, since they under- 
stood that in taking their part they ran the 
risk of being roughly handled by the people 
at the encampment should what they had 
done, become known. 

The life the boys had led while in the Arc- 
tic regions had been of such a nature that 
they had become so accustomed to taking 
care of themselves that the fact of their be- 
ing alone in a balloon with no companions 
except their dogs, and that this balloon was 
rapidly carrying them away from Grant 
Land, gave them but little anxiety. They 
had safely escaped from their captors, had 
regained their rifles and revolvers, had an 
ample supply of ammunition, and, more- 
over, had their Newfoundland dogs with 
them. They believed therefore, that they 
would And an upper air current that would 


AN ARCTIC BALLOON VOYAGE 103 

take them to some point on Grant Land, 
.when they would descend and make their 
way over land or ice to Camp Henderson. 

“Andree,” said Eric, after the balloon 
had been moving for some time toward the 
north; wonder what Hector and Snow- 
flake think of their first balloon experience ? 
It is so novel to them, that I am surprised 
they have not shown any signs of fear.’’ 

guess they are so glad to be with us 
that they have not found time to get scared. 
It’s all right here. Hector and Snowflake,” 
he said, addressing the dogs. ^^You are 
feeling pretty good, aren’t you, doggies?” 

The*' dogs appeared to have some idea of 
what was being said to them, and endeav- 
ored to reply, by shaking their tails as well 
as in other ways, that as long as their mas- 
ters were with them, they did not intend to 
let anything worry them. The strange 
moving house in which they were sitting 
might carry them anywhere, if only they 


104 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

were permitted to remain with their mas- 
ters. Indeed, the dogs found there was so 
niuch they wanted to say that any ordinary 
shaking of their tails was so ridiculously 
insufficient, that they added a number of 
novel shakings they had never thought of 
before, so that Andree said: 

“Look at the dogs, Eric, they are trying 
to talk to us, by a wonderful wagging of 
their tails.’’ 

“Trying to talk,” replied Eric, “why they 
are talking. They make tail shakings say 
more than the tongues of many people I 
have known. You’re glad to be with us, 
aren’t you. Hector and Snovffiake?” he said, 
speaking to the dogs. 

The dogs evidently felt that such a ques- 
tion required more than even the wonderful 
shakings of their tails they had before em- 
ployed, so that resting their paws against 
their masters’ shoulders, they began to lick 
their hands and faces, and uttering a va- 


AN ARCTIC BALLOON VOYAGE 105 

riety of cries that certainly were intended 
to say something like the following : 

^‘As long as we are with you, we don’t 
care what happens.” 

When the balloon left the station the sky 
was clear and free from clouds, and since 
they were near the surface of the earth they 
had no trouble in distinguishing the appear- 
ance of the ice pack that lay beneath them, 
as far as the eye could reach. To the north 
there was the same monotonous, unbroken 
ice surface with, however, a great number 
of lanes or openings free from ice. The 
same appearance was seen toward the south 
except on the distant horizon they could 
see a faint dark line that marked the head- 
land of Grant Land. They made careful 
note of what they saw in their note books as 
usual. 

They determined now to rise in the air in 
an endeavor to find a counter current that 
would carry them toward Grant Land, pos- 


106 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

gibly in the neighborhood of Camp Hender- 
son. 

As is well known, a balloon, when prop- 
erly managed, can easily be caused to rise 
higher into the air, or to descend toward 
the earth as one may wish. In order to 
rise, it is only necessary to throw overboard 
some ballast, or weight, that has been 
placed in the car or basket of the balloon 
for this purpose. A balloon set free in the 
air will rise until it reaches a distance above 
the earth where the weight of the air it dis- 
places is exactly equal to its own weight. 
It then continues to move onward by the ac- 
tion of any current of air in which it may 
be. If, however, the weight of the balloon 
is decreased as by throwing ballast over- 
board, the balloon at once rises higher in the 
atmosphere. 

There is danger, however, in permitting 
the balloon to ascend too high, since the 
higher it rises above the level of the sea 


AN ARCTIC BALLOON VOYAGE 


107 


the smaller is the pressure which the air 
exerts against its outer surface. With every 
decrease of pressure, its gas expands, thus 
exerting a greater pressure against its in- 
terior walls. This pressure may at last be- 
come so great as to burst the balloon. It is 
necessary, therefore, in rising in the air to 
observe carefully the condition of the bal- 
loon and if the pressure of the gas it con- 
tains becomes too great, to pull the rope con- 
nected with the valve and so permit some of 
the gas to escape. 

No matter at what height the balloon may 
be, if sufficient gas is permitted to escape it 
may be caused to descend to the surface. 

It is only* possible, however, for a balloon 
in this manner to change its distance from 
the surface of the earth for a limited num- 
ber of times, since if it is caused to rise and 
fall too frequently it will soon have lost so 
much of its gas, as well as its ballast, that 
it will be necessary to descend to the surface. 


108 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

When, therefore, the boys determined to 
permit the balloon to rise, Eric went to one 
of the bags of ballast so as to untie it and 
throw its contents overboard. Their ballast 
consisted of finely divided material princi- 
pally sand, which could be safely thrown 
out when high in the air. Of course, large 
masses like heavy rocks, if thrown over- 
board, would fall with dangerous velocities. 

The ballast was stowed in bags supported 
on the outside of the basket, and arranged 
so that the material could be dropped by 
untying the mouths of the bags which had 
been placed so as to point downwards. 

Unfortunately Andree understood that 
Eric wished him to also untie the mouth of 
the bag nearest him, so that all the ballast 
was discharged from the two bags. The 
balloon, thus decreased in weight, rapidly 
rose high into the air. 

It is well known to aeronauts that the 
only way in which the motion of a balloon 


AN ARCTIC BALLOON VOYAGE 


109 


can be detected is by reference to surround- 
ing objects, and, since there were no clouds, 
the only object that Andree could see was the 
ice-pack or water surface below. While, 
therefore, Andree was leaning over the side 
of the basket watching the sand falling it 
seemed to him, that the balloon appeared to 
be at rest in the air, and the earth seemed to 
be falling away from it. 

^^Eric, see how odd the icepack looks. It 
seems to be falling away from the balloon.’’ 

“Yes,” said Eric, “that’s so.” He then 
noticed for the first time that Andree had 
emptied the bag of ballast on his side of the 
balloon. Eric stood aghast for a moment 
as the terrible import of what had happened 
burst upon him. 

“I am sorry, Andree, that you misunder- 
stood me,” said Eric. 

“What’s the matter T’ 

“ I have also emptied a bag of ballast on 
my side of the balloon, so between us, we 


no CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

have thrown out more ballast than I had in- 
tended/’ 

^'Well, what of that?” inquired Andree. 

^‘We have not onty lost some of our bal- 
last, which is an important thing, but we 
have thrown out so much that the balloon 
will rise too high in the air.” 

They could now see that the balloon was 
moving rapidly upwards, for the aneroid 
barometer now indicated their height as 
considerably over a mile or eight thousand 
feet above the ice-pack, with the barometer 
still falling; that is, with the balloon still 
rapidly moving upwards, and this continued 
until the barometer indicated a height of 
ten thousand feet or nearly two miles above 
the level of the sea. 

Both boys now began to experience diffi- 
culty in breathing, together with severe 
pains in the ears. Moreover, Andree ’s 
nose commenced to bleed copiously. Their 
dogs, too, showed signs - of distress, and 


AN ARCTIC BALLOON VOYAGE 111 

moaned as if in pain as they looked anx- 
iously at their masters, as if to ask what the 
trouble was. 

Eric, who had been carefully watching the 
balloon, suddenly cried in an excited tone : 

^^See, Andree, how rapidly our balloon is 
swelling. Unless we let some of the gas es- 
cape, by opening the valve, it will burst.’’ 

Andree pulled the rope and opened the 
valve. A rushing sound was heard as the 
gas escaped and the balloon rapidly de- 
scended, as could be seen from the rapid ris- 
ing of the barometer, as well as when they 
got near enough to the earth to distinguish 
the ice field below for the curious manner in 
which the ice field seemed to rise to meet 
them. 

The air, which up to this time had been 
quite clear, now began to change. Clouds 
began to collect, arid a fog set in that soon 
hid the ice field from them. The barometer, 
however, showed that the balloon was 


112 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

neither rising nor falling, but was merely 
being carried along by the wind. There was, 
therefore, no immediate danger. 

^'What shall we do now, Eric?” inquired 
Andree. ^^It would be unsafe to attempt to 
descend, would it not?” 

‘‘Yes,” said Eric, “we won’t attempt to 
descend now, but wait where we are until 
the fog lifts, so we can see the ice field.” 

The boys took the situation philosophic- 
ally. Not being able to do anything they 
determined to take matters coolly. There- 
fore, they took some food from their stores 
and began to break their long fast, not for- 
getting their dogs. 

The fog increased in density so that they 
could see nothing at all beneath them. 

The fog continued for a long time, so that 
the boys, fatigued by their exertions during 
the past thirty-six hours or over, began to 
be sleepy, so they determined to divide the 
time into watches, of three hours each, and 


AN ARCTIC BALLOON VOYAGE 


113 


that one should keep a lookout on the bal- 
loon while the other slept. This was done, 
the first watch falling to Andree, so that 
Eric bundled himself on the outside of a 
sleeping-bag that had been placed in the bot- 
tom of the basket, and was soon asleep 
alongside of Hector and Snowflake. 

The storm continued through four suc- 
cessive watches without any incident of 

note occurring. 

8 


CHAPTER VI 


THE ULLOA CIRCLE, OR THE PHANTOM BALLOON 

T he velocity of the wind decreased, but 
the fog continued until the middle of 
the next day. As the sun came out and the 
fog gradually disappeared, they could again 
see that the ice was still characterized by 
alterations of ice and water, but the open 
areas were greater than before. The bal- 
loon was still moving toward the north, al- 
though less rapidly than on the previous 
day. 

‘‘Let us take an observation of the sun 
so as to see where we are,’’ said Eric. 

This was done when their chronometers 
indicated twelve o’clock, or high noon. 
When Eric was taking the observation of 
the sun so as to determine the latitude, An- 
114 


THE PHANTOM BALLOON 


115 


dree began a computation of tlieir longitude. 
After the necessary calculations were com- 
pleted Eric said : 

^‘We are in lat. 86° N., so that we can not 
be very far from, Hanscombe Island.’’ 

‘‘That’s right,” replied Andree, “but our 
longitude shows that we are considerably to 
the west of that island.” 

The balloon was sufficiently near the ice 
pack to enable them to examine closely its 
surface. There was no land whatever in 
sight but, as already stated, the pack was 
much freer from ice than it was at any time 
that they had seen it from the balloon. It 
was therefore clearly impossible for them 
to think of descending. 

“There are two courses open to us,” re- 
marked Eric, “we must either go on with 
the surface wind toward the north, or we 
must again throw over some of our ballast, 
and endeavor to find an upper wind which 
will carry us back again toward Grant 


116 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

Land. For my part, I think it may be best 
to endeavor to find the upper current.’’ 

Andree suggested that before actually 
reaching a conclusion they should carefully 
discuss all the reasons for and against this 
change of direction. So they talked the 
matter over for about a quarter of an hour, 
and had determined to try to reach an upper 
current, so as to change their direction when 
the air again began to lose its transparency, 
and in less than another quarter of an hour 
the fog had settled around them denser 
than before. 

‘^The matter has been decided for us,” 
said Eric. ‘‘There is now nothing to do 
but to let the balloon be carried with the 
wind toward the north.” 

“Very well then,” said Andree, “let’s 
make ourselves as comfortable as possible.” 
So he seated himself on the fioor of the 
basket alongside the Newfoundland dogs, 
where he was joined by Eric. The boys then 


THE PHANTOM BALLOON 


117 


began to pet their dogs, which, greatly 
pleased with the attentions their masters 
were giving them, helped the boys to spend 
a pleasant hour. During this time, how- 
ever, they did not fail to watch the balloon, 
as well as from time to time to observe the 
height of the barometer. Since no change 
occurred in the barometer they were satis- 
fied, that the balloon was not changing its 
distance from the surface. 

The dense fog continued for about two 
hours longer, when it disappeared permit- 
ting them again to see the surface of the ice 
pack below them. They could now see that 
the balloon was much nearer the earth than 
formerly. As soon as Eric observed this 
he said: 

‘‘We have been losing gas, and are slowly 
falling. We cannot safely descend here. 
Let’s throw some more of the ballast over- 
board. If the balloon falls much farther, 
it will strike the surface.” 


118 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

/‘All right/ ’ replied Andree, “but this 
time only one of us will throw the ballast 
out. Suppose you attend to it.’’ 

“I won’t empty a full bag of ballast,” 
said Eric. “I will let it out slowly, and as 
soon as the balloon has risen a short dis- 
tance, I will close the bag.” 

This plan worked very satisfactorily. 
When about one quarter of the ballast had 
been permitted to escape from one of the 
bags, the balloon had risen a fairly consider- 
able distance. Eric then closed the mouth so 
as to prevent the escape of any more. 

The balloon continued at about an eleva- 
tion of about 1,200 feet for a fairly consid- 
erable time, when it again began to fall. 
As soon as it came too near the surface, an- 
other quarter of a bag of ballast was per- 
mitted to escape, and the balloon again rose 
in the air. The wind had now completely 
died down. There was a dead calm, and 
the balloon was floating quietly in the air 


THE PHANTOM BALLOON 


119 


without any motion whatever. It was now 
in a thin fleecy cloud, the particles of which 
consisted of small flat ice crystals. In the 
light of the sun the crystals began to shine 
like thousands of miniature diamonds. It 
was a beautiful sight, and was greatly en- 
joyed by the two boys, who were examining 
it while leaning opposite each other on dif- 
ferent sides of the basket. 

Although both boys could see the ice cloud 
yet neither was able to examine the portion 
of the cloud the other was observing. There 
suddenly appeared on the side of the balloon 
directly opposite Andree a surprising sight. 
Immediately before him, at a distance of 
about half a mile, he could distinctly see an- 
other balloon very closely resembling in 
form, size and height from the ground, the 
one in which they were seated. 

. Scarcely crediting his eyes he kept quiet 
for a moment hoping the balloons might 
come nearer together. As far as he could 


120 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

see, however, they maintained the same dis- 
tance apart. 

When Andree first saw the strange bal- 
loon the following thoughts passed through 
his mind : 

‘^Is this the balloon of some other Arctic 
explorer, who is trying to reach the north 
pole, or is it not more probably, a balloon 
sent out from Camp Henderson to rescue 
us ^ If so, then possibly uncle Lars, as well 
as Dr. Hanscombe, will be in it.’’ So cry- 
ing out in an excited tone, he said : 

‘‘Look, Eric, there’s a balloon near us 
just like ours.” 

“Where?” cried Eric, greatly excited. 

Andree, pointing to the strange balloon, 
said: 

“There it is, Eric. As you can see, it is 
the same size as our balloon and of exactly 
the same color.” 

“Can you see anyone in it?” inquired 
Eric. 


THE PHANTOM BALLOON 121 

Avas the reply. Although there 
seems to be something in it that may be 
men.’’ 

^‘Wait a moment, I ivill look through the 
glasses,” said Eric. After looking in this 
way for a moment, he said : 

am not sure, but I think I can see two 
i3ersons standing together looking oyer the 
basket. Take tlie glass, Andree, and tell me 
what you can see.” 

After a few moments, Andree replied : 

‘‘I am almost certain I can see two per- 
sons in the basket, and what is strange they 
appear to be of the same size as ourselves, 
but I can’t see distinctly, and m^ay be mis- 
taken.” 

‘‘I have been wondering, Andree,” said 
Eric, “whether this is not a balloon that has 
been sent out from Camp Henderson to res- 
cue us.” 

“I would not be surprised,” was the an- 
swer. “I remember that uncle Lars had 


122 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

quite a number of balloons he intended to 
employ for stationary balloons. They were 
of the same pattern and, moreover, of the 
same size and color as the balloon in which 
we are seated. You remember that one of 
these balloons was carefully packed in the 
cave at Kransen Island, when we left that 
place in the dirigible balloon.’’ 

‘‘In that case,” said Eric, “the balloon 
will contain some of our friends. An- 
dree,” he said, as his eyes sparkled with joy 
of the possibility, “your uncle, Prof. Kran- 
sen, may be one of its passengers, and pos- 
sibly uncle Horace also.” 

They stood watching for a short time, 
hoping against hope that a wind would rise 
and bring the two balloons nearer together, 
but as before, the distance between them re- 
mained apparently the same. 

“Let’s try to attract their attention by 
shouting.” 

Both boys cried out as loud as they could. 


THE PHANTOM BALLOON 


123 


Altliougli ill the rare air their shouting did 
not sound very loud, yet they certainly 
should have heard if any people had been in 
the strange balloon. Disappointed that no 
notice had been taken of their cries, Eric 
remarked : 

‘‘Suppose we tire off our rifles. They will 
make louder sounds, and will probably at- 
tract their attention.^’ 

“Very well,’’ was the reply, “only take 
care that the bullets don’t strike the bal- 
loon.” 

As the rifles rang out in the clear air, the 
boys were surprised to see two people of the 
same height as themselves, also firing off 
guns. 

But what especially surprised them was 
that the guns fired by the strangers in the 
balloon produced no sounds that they could 
hear, although they could distinctly see the 
flash of light accompanying the report of 
the explosion of the powder. 


124 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

Let’s fire again,” replied Eric. 

They did so, and again could see the 
strangers in the neighboring balloon appar- 
ently aim their rifles toward their balloon, 
but as before, no sound was heard, although 
the flashes of light were distinctly visible. 

‘^What kind of people are they?” ex- 
claimed Andree, in astonishment. ‘‘If we 
were superstitious we might believe that this 
is a ghost or phantom balloon. That its 
occupants are the spirits of some of the 
many Arctic explorers who have perished in 
these regions in their efforts to reach the 
Pole.” 

“They might, indeed,” replied Eric. 
“Andree,” he continued, “have you ever 
heard of the Flying Dutchman?” 

“I don’t believe I have,” was the reply. 
“Tell me about it.” 

“It was a phantom ship sailors sometimes 
claimed to see, generally before some great 
calamity, moving through the waters of the 


THE PHANTOM BALLOON 


125 


ocean, apparently indifferent to the severest 
storms. Both the ship and its crew were 
clearly visible, but its men had the awful 
appearance of dead men, so the sailors be- 
lieved they were ghosts. Yonder balloon, 
which certainly looks like a phantom bal- 
loon, reminds me of the Flying Dutchman. 
You see we can not make ourselves heard by 
the people in it.’’ 

Let’s try again to make ourselves 
heard,” said Andree. So the two boys be- 
gan to shout at the top of their voices : 

‘^Balloon ahoy! Balloon ahoy! Who 
are you?” 

They now thought they heard the words, 
‘^are you,” coming from the phantom bal- 
loon, but they were not sure, for when the 
boys while shouting stood on their feet, and 
held their hands before their mouths so as to 
make a sort of megaphone, the people in the 
phantom balloon did the same thing, and 
even when the boys gesticulated with their 


126 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

arms they could distinctly see the strangers 
in the balloon repeating these motions, as if 
ridiculing them. 

^‘Look at that, Eric,’’ replied Andree. 
‘^They are mimicking us. 

‘^Why don’t you answer us?” cried out 
Eric, in a loud tone. ‘^Balloon ahoy ! Why 
don’t you answer us?” he continued. 

And they faintly heard a cry of ‘‘answer 
us.” 

And now something still stranger hap- 
pened, for the two Newfoundland dogs 
hearing their masters cry out to the distant 
balloon began barking furiously, and run- 
ning around the basket, would rest their 
paws against the basket, changing their po- 
sitions on the sides of the basket rapidly. 
Instantly, two phantom Newfoundland dogs 
were seen on the phantom balloon repeating 
all the motions of Hector and Snowflake, but 
as before producing no audible sounds. 

Andree was now thoroughly frightened, 


THE PHANTOM BALLOON 


12Y 


but not so Eric, who was much quicker to 
grasp natural phenomena, and had at last 
solved the problem of the phantom balloon, 
for he began laughing as though the whole 
occurrence was the funniest joke imaginable. 

‘‘Don’t get scared. It is nothing that can- 
not be easily explained.” 

“But, Eric,” inquired Andree, “what 
kind of people can they be in that balloon^ 
Are they really phantoms'?” 

“Yes, Andree,” said Eric, “for,” he said, 
laughing, “look at those circles of light that 
you can see surrounding the balloon.” 

On looking, Andree saw several circles of 
whitish light surrounding the balloon. 

They had observed these circles before 
but now they were much clearer. 

“If they are phantoms,” said Andree, “I 
don’t see anything to laugh at, yet you ap- 
pear to think it very funny.” 

“It is funny,” said Eric, still laughing, 
“but sit down in the basket of the balloon, 


128 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

my lad, and I will show you something that 
I think will make you laugh with me/’ 

As Andree did this, Eric now began to 
make all kinds of odd movements, occasion- 
ally jumping up into the air, but, of course, 
being careful always to land into the balloon. 
Instantly the phantom figure in the balloon 
corresponding to Eric, at once began repeat- 
ing these movements. Eric now pretended 
to get angry at the figure, and cried : 

^‘You impertinent fellow. I challenge 
you to fight a bout with me according to the 
Marquis of Queensberry rules. ’ ’ Then plac- 
ing himself in the most approved boxing at- 
titude, he began squaring off at his ghostly 
antagonist, every now and then pretending 
to give him a severe blow on some vulnera- 
ble part of his body, if, indeed, ghosts have 
vulnerable parts. 

Whenever a specially clever blow had been 
landed Eric would enjoy himself by remark- 
ing: 


THE PHANTOM BALLOON 


m 


‘^How do you like that, old fellow'? Do 
you want another?^’ 

But the phantom figure made no answer, 
being apparently satisfied with repeating 
exactly all the movements they had seen. 
This scene was so extremely funny that An- 
dree commenced to laugh. At first only a 
feeble imitation laugh, but at last as the 
meaning of the whole thing came to him he 
laughed in a hearty, uproarious manner. 

understand it all, Eric,’’ he cried. 
^^What a great fellow you are to read nat- 
ural signs. What we have been looking at 
all this time have been merely looking-glass 
pictures of ourselves and balloon.” 

^^Yes,” said Eric, ^Hhat’s the explanation, 
but I want to take exception to your calling 
me a bright fellow. On the contrary, I 
think I have been a very stupid fellow not 
to have seen so simple an explanation long 
before I did.” 

^‘If you can explain this curious phenom- 

9 


130 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

enon to me,’’ said Andree, wish you 
would do so.” 

remember reading a short description 
of the phenomenon we have just observed,” 
replied his companion. ^ ^ It is what is called 
the ‘Ulloa Circle,’ or the ‘White Rainbow.’ 
Without going into a full description it may 
be explained as follows: Sometimes, al- 
though very rarely, a sheet of ice crystals 
will collect in the air in a shape not unlike 
that of a smooth, vertical mirror, or looking- 
glass. This glass or reflector forms images 
of any objects that may happen to be in 
front of it. Its surface consists of a collec- 
tion of tiny ice crystals that compose the 
cloud through which the balloon passed a 
short time ago. 

“Now, if there had been formed in the 
space before us a surface like a huge mirror, 
of course, we would see the image of our 
balloon flung back from its surface, and, like 
all looking-glass images, our balloon and 


THE PHANTOM BALLOON 


131 


ourselves would appear to be of the same size 
and color. Moreover, like all such images, 
these phantom images would appear to be 
situated back of the mirror, at the same dis- 
tance the objects are in front of it. Con- 
sequently, everything that we did in the 
balloon was repeated by these images. 
There is only one respect in which the phan- 
tom images would differ from the original 
that is they would be reversed from right to 
left. It was this that first suggested to me 
the explanation of the phenomenon.” 

^^What a bright fellow you are,” said An- 
dree. ‘^How very simple these things are 
when we once understand them.” 

‘‘Yes,” replied Eric, “the explanation is 
very simple. In reality, however, parts of 
the explanation are by no means simple. 
For example, the concentric rings that sur- 
round the images like a huge picture frame, 
are produced by the interference of the rays 
of light. As you know from your study of 


132 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

physics, the exact explanation of this phe- 
nomenon is by no means simple/’ 

The boys stood watching the curious phe- 
nomenon for some time. At last, however, 
the wind began to blow, thus breaking up the 
calm, when the phantom balloon gradually 
disappeared into thin air. 

^‘We will make a careful report of this 
queer phenomenon,” said Andree. 

^^Yes,” remarked his companion, ^4f we 
ever return to Camp Henderson, we will 
send a report to Mr. Gideon Brown, who will 
be pleased to have it for publication.” 

Don’t get blue, Eric,” remarked Andree. 
Don’t say, 4f we return to Camp Hender- 
son. ’ We intend to return to Camp Hender- 
son, so cheer up, never say die. I believe we 
shall w^ork out of this scrape some how or 
other.” 


CHAPTER VII 


COLLAPSE OF THE BALLOON — EVEKYTHING LOST 
— THE BOYS AND THEHl DOGS BEACH 
AN UNINHABITED ISLAND 



IHE balloon bad again reached a point 


JL dangerously near the surface of the 
ocean, so they threw out another quarter of 
ballast from one of the bags, and the balloon 
as before rose slowly in the air. This time, 
however, as they could see both from the 
appearance of the ice pack, as well as from 
an observation of the barometer, the rise 
was less than on former occasions. 

^^As you see,’’ remarked Eric, to his com- 
panion, ^^we have not risen as high above the 
surface of the pack as we did before.” 

^^And what do you infer from that,” in- 
quired Andree, who, although well up on 


133 


134 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

physical science, was not so quick to inter- 
pret phenomena as Eric was. 

‘^It means our balloon is leaking. We are 
losing gas and before long we will be ob- 
liged to abandon it, and take to the ice 
pack.” 

Andree now began to understand and 
looking down at the ice pack he saw that it 
contained larger areas of open water. He 
saw that should the balloon fall, their 
chances of escape would be small. He was a 
brave lad and did not make any other move 
than simply to shrug his shoulders as he 
looked at his companion. 

^Wes,” replied Eric, don’t like the 
looks of it, but do not let’s lose courage. 
Lots of things may happen before we are 
'obliged to leave the balloon.” 

They had 'Some four extra bags filled with 
ballast that had not yet been emptied, so 
that if the leak did not increase, they would 
probably be able to keep afioat for perhaps 


COLLAPSE OF THE BOYS’ BALLOON 135 


three or four hours longer. They proceeded 
to empty the remaining quarter of a bag of 
ballast that was in the bag, that was first 
partially emptied. On being relieved of this 
weight, the balloon again rose in the air 
though neither so high nor so quickly as it 
did before. 

Eric had been thinking deeply, and when 
at last the balloon again came so near the 
surface of the ice pack, he rose for the pur- 
pose of throwing overboard some of the bal- 
last : 

think it will be best only to run about 
one-eighth of the amount of ballast we have 
at one time. You understand, Andree, that 
our balloon is leaking. We must endeavor 
to decrease the amount of this leakage. Now 
the higher the balloon rises, the greater will 
be the expansion of its contained gas, and, 
the more rapid its leakage. If, therefore, 
we throw overboard a smaller amount of bal- 
last, we can remain in the air for a longer 


136 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

time, owing to the decrease in the amount of 
leakage.’^ 

This plan being followed there were eight 
successive risings and fallings of the bal- 
loon, before one of the bags of ballast was 
completely emptied. During each emptying 
of the ballast of a bag, they watched the 
barometer. But this only greatly discour- 
aged them, since each successive time the 
balloon reached a smaller elevation above 
the general level of the ice pack. 

All this time the boys made careful ex- 
aminations of the walls of the balloon, to 
see if they could detect any place from 
which the gas was leaking. None, how^ever, 
were visible, but in many places the varnish 
had scaled off from the. surface, so that the 
leakage was probably going on through the 
minute pores in the several coatings of the 
silk that formed the walls of the balloon. 
They were obliged, therefore, to permit the 
leakage to continue, for they could not find 


COLLAPSE OF THE BOYS’ BALLOON 137 

among tlieir stores any varnish for stopping 
it. 

When they came to the second hag of bal- 
last, they found that the decrease in weight 
caused by throwing one-eighth of the bag 
overboard was too small to cause any 
marked difference in the height of the bal- 
loon. They could readily see that its walls 
instead of being distended, were now loose 
or flabby, and the balloon still remained dan- 
gerously near the surface of the ice pack. 
It was necessary, therefore, to throw over- 
board one-half of the amount of ballast of 
one of the bags at one time, and this did not 
keep them up for as long a time as before. 

They were now on their last bag of bal- 
last, and this amount would at the best en- 
sure but two successive risings of the bal- 
loon. 

Andree was now surprised to see Eric 
busily engaged in making bundles of dif- 
ferent articles on the balloon. These bun- 


138 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

dies consisted of articles firmly tied together 
by long pieces of stout hempen cord of the 
same kind as that used for forming the net- 
work which held the car to the balloon. 

^^What are you doing, Eric"?” asked An- 
dree, in a surprised tone. ‘‘Tell me and I’ll 
help you.” 

“I am so arranging our goods that when 
we throw them overboard and they do not 
fall on the ice they will float. You see in 
this way, should we succeed in reaching 
land, some of them may float after us and be 
cast ashore at the same place.” 

‘ ‘ Then you think we will have to throw our 
goods overboard?” 

“Yes, and besides that, I fear that the 
time is soon coming, when, if we do not leave 
the balloon, we will perish. I hope, how- 
ever, that we may be able to reach land, or 
at least an ice surface. So help me to tie up 
the rest of our goods in bundles.” 

There were four large ring buoys attached 


COLLAPSE OF THE BOYS’ BALLOON 139 

to the sides of the balloon. They used two of 
these for the attachment of the heavier ar- 
ticles being capable of making the bundles 
so that they would be sufficiently light to 
float in the water. 

The cage of the balloon, though formed 
of wicker work, was provided not only with 
wooden seats but also with a number of 
wooden boxes or lockers, in which some of 
the smaller articles were placed. Seizing 
a hammer, Eric commenced to take down 
the seats, remove the wooden lockers and 
employing the boards for the remaining 
bundles of their goods, by tying them to- 
gether with the linen thread before referred 
to, for which several large balls had been 
provided. Besides this, there were two 
large wooden water barrels, filled with 
drinking water. 

They were obliged to stop in their work 
of making packages so as to throw over- 
board more ballast, and had emptied their 


140 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

last bag of sand. Eric now knocked out a 
bung near the bottom of one of tlie barrels, 
and removing a portion of the wooden grat- 
ing that covered the wicker work bottom of 
the basket, permitted the water to run out 
of the bottom of the balloon. 

As the water was rapidly disappearing, 
Eric remarked: 

“Better take a good drink. We can’t tell 
when we’ll get another chance.” So they 
took a long drink and even induced their 
dogs to do the same. 

The water in the barrels was sufficiently 
heavy to permit its loss to make two con- 
siderable risings of the balloon. During 
this time the boys succeeded in packing a 
portion of the remainder of their goods. 
As soon as one barrel was empty, they 
stuffed their sleeping-bag inside it, and filled 
the space with such delicate objects as their 
barometer, thermometer, sextant, and 
chronometers, observing to wrap carefully 


COLLAPSE OF THE BOYS’ BALLOON 141 

each of these instruments in several layers 
of oiled silk they found among the articles 
in the balloon. They did the same thing 
with the other barrel, in which they packed 
among other things, their rifles, revolvers, 
and ammunition belts. 

‘‘Here is something,” said Eric, picking 
up a number of boxes of safety matches, 
“that we must take with us,” saying this he 
made four packages of the matches, contain- 
ing a dozen boxes each, and wrapping them 
in the oiled silk, thrust two of the packages 
in the pockets of his coat, and gave the other 
two to Andree, who did the same thing. 

It was hard work making these prepara-, 
tions. Every now and then, as the balloon 
got dangerously near the ice pack, they were 
obliged to stop and throw some of the pack- 
ages overboard. Whenever, it was possible 
they threw them so that instead of falling 
on the ice they would fall into the water. 
They were especially anxious to be able to 


142 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

do this ill the case of the two barrels, which 
as soon as they had filled with their more 
delicate goods, they replaced the heads, and 
tacked oiled silk around the top, so as far 
as possible to prevent the water from enter- 
ing. 

As the balloon was again approaching the 
water, Eric said : 

^^Come and help me with this barrel, An- 
dree,’’ and raising it to the top of the cage 
they threw it overboard in an area almost 
entirely free from ice. When the barrel left 
the balloon it was only some fifty feet above 
the water, the fall, however, was sufficient 
to give it a velocity which caused it to dis- 
appear for a moment below the surface of 
the water, but it soon arose to the surface, 
and they saw with pleasure that it fioated 
after the balloon, apparently being carried 
along in that direction by the wind. 

They had the same good fortune with the 
second barrel, which also followed in the 


COLLAPSE OF THE BOYS’ BALLOON 143 

wake of the balloon, but, of course, at a 
fairly considerable distance. 

There are two more ring-buoys,^’ said 
Andree, ‘^why not use them?. 

^‘We shall,” replied Eric, ^^we will need 
them ourselves when we leave the balloon.” 

While the making of the goods into bun- 
dles was going on, they gained considerable 
time by cutting the hempen cable that held 
the heavy anchor employed for attaching the 
balloon to the ground when it was neces- 
sary to descend. It might, perhaps, have 
been better policy to have thrown this over- 
board at an earlier hour, but Eric, knowing 
how dangerous it is to the occupants of a 
balloon to permit it to be dragged over a 
rough surface had kept the anchor until 
almost the last minute. As the anchor fell 
they were horrified to see that it carried 
with it the two ring-buoys that they had re- 
tained for their own use. Eelieved of this 
heavy weight, the balloon again mounted in 


144 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

the air, but this time very sluggishly since 
the amount of gas it contained had now de- 
creased to such an extent that the walls of 
the balloon were shrivelled like the skin of 
an apple that had lost a large portion of its 
juice by evaporation. 

They had now thrown almost everything 
overboard. Eric, who was busily engaged 
in cutting a canvas cloth into two long 
strips, said to Andree : 

‘^Look over the side of the balloon, please. 
Are we sinking or rising This was 
shortly after the anchor had been cut loose. 

‘^We are slowly sinking,’’ was the reply. 

“How long do you think we will have be- 
fore reaching the water?” 

“Perhaps about ten minutes,” was the re- 
ply* 

“That will be sufficient,” said Eric. 
“Come here and help me with the dogs.” 

Andree now saw what Eric was doing. He 
had securely tied one end of each of four 


COLLAPSE OF THE BOYS* BALLOON 145 

stout strips of clotli to a part of the cordage 
that passed over the top of the balloon hold- 
ing the basket in place. He then passed 
two of the strips beneath the belly of one of 
the dogs, and then commanding the dog to 
stand, secured the other ends to the cordage. 
Andree did the same for the other dog. The 
poor animals did not understand what was 
going to be done with them, but they had 
confidence in their masters, and stood pa- 
tiently awaiting whatever might happen, 
for they seemed to understand that they 
were in a dangerous position, but were sat- 
isfied as long as they were with their mas- 
ters. 

The balloon was now rapidly falling, and 
would soon reach a piece of open water that 
stretched as far as the eye could see. 

‘^Draw your knife,” said Eric to Andree, 
‘‘and help me cut the cords that hold the 
basket of the balloon to the network.” 

It was their last resource. 


10 


146 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

Climbing into the network, and hanging 
to its sides with one hand, they commenced 
severing the cords that held the basket, 
which at last fell with a crash into the water 
wdth the two dogs suspended by the canvas 
bags to the network, and the boys clinging 
to the network above the dogs talking to the 
animals so as to reassure them and keep 
them from struggling. 

‘‘Is there any land in sight?” inquired 
Eric anxiously. “I cannot see anything 
from this side of the balloon.” 

“Yes,” replied Andree. “As well as I 
can see there is a small island lying toward 
the northeast, directly in the path of our bal- 
loon.” 

“Then we must keep up for as long a 
time as possible.” 

It did not seem, however, that it would be 
possible to keep the balloon up much longer, 
for it was rapidly falling toward the water, 
and at last reached the surface of the water. 


COLLAPSE OF THE BOYS’ BALLOON 147 

immersing the dogs and threatening to 
drown them by settling over them. 

^ ^ The only chance for the poor animals is 
to cut them loose,” said Eric, severing one 
end of the canvas cloth that attached Snow- 
flake to the rigging, and calling to Andree to 
do the same for Hector. 

The animals rolled out of the supporting 
bands of cloth when the balloon released of 
their great weight bounded upwards into the 
air. 

Eric had used excellent judgment, not 
only in the way he supported the dogs to 
the rigging, but especially in the manner of 
releasing them, since by cutting one end of 
the supporting cloth, the bands slipped from 
under the animals entirely freeing and pre- 
cipitating, them into the water. They were 
apparently uninjured, and began swimming 
vigorously after the balloon, loudly bark- 
ing as though the entire proceeding was a 
lark to be enjoyed to the full. 


148 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

As the balloon mounted in the air, Eric 
cried to his companion: 

‘^Can you still see the island?’’ 

^^Yes,” was the reply, ‘‘we are going di- 
rectly toward it, although very slowly.” 

“About how far is it from us?” was the 
inquiry. 

“Not quite a mile,” was the reply. 

“Then,” said Eric, “if the balloon will 
float long enough we will be able to reach 
it.” 

It did not appear, however, that the bal- 
loon could possibly remain much longer in 
the air, for a rent had now opened in one of 
its sides out of which they could hear the 
gas rushing. 

“Look lively, Andree,” said Eric. “As 
soon as the balloon strikes the water, en- 
deavor to prevent its folds from covering 
you. Jump as soon as the balloon strikes 
the water and swim away from it.” 

This was excellent advice, and was strictly 


COLLAPSE OF THE BOYS’ BALLOON 149 


followed. When the balloon finally touched 
the surface, they both dove into the water 
from the rigging, and succeeded in swim- 
ming away from all that was left of the bal- 
loon. As soon as the balloon reached the 
surface of the ocean, it commenced a series 
of beatings or thrashings against the water 
in a manner well known to aeronauts; for 
as soon as the lower parts touched the water 
and were buoyed up by it, the balloon being 
to this extent relieved of its weight would 
rise momentarily in the air, dragging a por- 
tion of its immersed surface out of the 
water, would again owing to its increased 
weight fall to the surface, where it would re- 
peat the thrashing movement. 

The boys struck out through the cold icy 
water toward the island. Andree, who was 
the better swimmer, ' insisted that Eric 
should every now and then rest by laying his 
hand lightly on his shoulder. 

In this manner they kept swimming to- 


150 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

ward the island for about a quarter of an 
hour, and at last both became so exhausted 
that it was evident that, unless something 
happened and happened quickly, they would 
both be drowned. 

^^Andree,” said Eric, ^^you cannot possi- 
bly save my life. I beg you to leave me here 
and try to save yourself. There is no use 
in both of us being drowned.” 

‘‘Eric,” returned Andree, “if there is any 
drowning, we’ll both drown together. I do 
not care to reach the island, unless I can 
save your life. Let us rest on the water as 
well as we can, and not expend our strength 
in trying to reach the island. Perhaps, 
after we rest, we may be able to go on for. 
awhile. See, we are much nearer the island 
than we were before.” 

The boys endeavored to rest in this way, 
but it was clear that they had about ex- 
pended all their strength. 

“Good bye, Andree,” said Eric, “if you 


COLLAPSE OF THE BOYS’ BALLOON 151 

reach the island, and afterwards see uncle 
. Horace, or Prof. Kransen tell them that I 
died thinking of their great kindness to 
me.’’ 

At this critical moment they heard some- 
thing that gave them strength to remain 
above the water for a few moments longer. 
This was the barking of Hector and Snow- 
flake, who were now seen swimming rapidly 
toward them. 

The intelligent animals, who saw the dan- 
ger in which their masters were placed, 
seized them by the collars of their coats, 
held their heads above the water and con- 
tinued swimming with a strong steady 
stroke toward the island, which they at last 
reached, and dragging their masters after 
them laid them down on a portion of the 
island that had a fairly thick covering of 
dried moss. 

But neither of the boys appeared to have 
any life remaining in them, and they lay on 


152 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

the ground as if they were dead. The poor 
dogs, which at first believed their masters 
were actually dead, began to moan and cry 
as if their hearts would break. This finally 
resulted in Eric’s awakening. Looking 
around and seeing Snowflake standing be- 
side him and licking his face, he said : 

Thank you. Snowflake, you have saved 
my life. I shall never forget this.” 

The animal was now almost beside itself 
with joy, and began dancing and jumping 
around Eric, uttering a series of yells that 
at last awakened Andree, when Hector be- 
gan to repeat all the extravagant manifesta- 
tions of joy that Snowflake had exhibited. 

As soon as Andree saw that Eric was 
alive, he said: 

‘‘Let us thank God, Eric, that our lives 
have been spared,” and kneeling down they 
gave thanks to God for the great mercies 
He had shown them. 


CHAPTER VIII 


BALLOON ISLAND 

I T is true tlie boys had escaped the perils 
of a rapidly leaking balloon, and had 
reached a small island in the far north. But 
their future did not look very bright. They 
were wet to the skin, and had no food, no 
arms, with which to procure food or defend 
themselves, and had practically nothing 
with them but the clothes they had on. 

It was Eric who first spoke: 

^^Well, Andree,’’ he said ^Tet’s get to 
work. There is much to do. Suppose we 
begin by taking an account of what we have 
with us besides our clothes. Then we must 
get dry, and look for food and shelter.’’ 

^Ht won’t take long as far as I am con- 
cerned,” said Andree, ‘Ho tell what I have. 
153 


154 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

To begin with, I have two packages of 
safety matches.” 

^‘And so have I,” was the reply. Let’s 
see if they’re worth anything. I hope they 
have not been injured by the water. ’ ’ 

Carefully removing the oiled silk, which 
they had wrapped around the boxes, they 
were relieved to find that the water had not 
penetrated the boxes, so that the matches 
were not at all injured. 

^^That is fortunate to begin with,” re- 
marked Andree. ‘^Now let’s turn out our 
pockets and see what else we have in them.” 

Going through all his pockets, Eric found 
that they contained only a pocket knife, a 
lead pencil, and a small note book. 

After a similar search, Andree remarked : 

‘‘I am richer thairyou, Eric. Besides a 
large penknife, a lead pencil and a note book, 
I have a small toothpick.” 

It may be a cause for surprise that they 
should have retained their note books and 


BALLOON ISLAND 


155 


lead pencils, but they were assistant report- 
ers of the expedition, and these books con- 
tained some twenty-five or thirty pages of 
notes that they had made in the balloon, of 
the general appearance of the ice pack and 
other interesting facts. 

“Let’s look further,” said Eric, “we may 
have something else.” 

The most careful searching failed to dis- 
cover anything else. They had thrown over- 
board all their other possessions in order to 
lighten the balloon but could only feel thank- 
ful since otherwise they must have perished. 

“But,” said Eric, “we must not forget 
our dogs. We have brought them with us,” 
he continued in a laughing tone, for he saw 
that Andree was worried, “or rather, they 
brought us with them. We have you, have 
we not?” he inquired, addressing himself to 
the dogs, which immediately answered by a 
wonderful assortment of cries, and wag- 
gings of the tails, as much as to say : 


156 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

^^Yes, 3^ou have us, and we are very glad 
to be here.’^ 

^^This reminds me of ^Puss in Boots,’ in 
the fairy story,” said Eric, wishing to raise 
Andree’s spirits. ^‘You remember, Andree, 
that a certain miller had three sons. Y^hen 
he died and his will was read, it was found 
that he had left the mill to his eldest son, 
his horse to the second son, and his cat to 
the youngest son. Now the mill, the horse, 
and the cat were everything he had owned. 
When the youngest son heard the will read, 
he said: ‘I am left in a poor condition. 
When I have eaten my cat for dinner, sold 
its skin to make a pair of gloves, or a muff, 
I may as well die, for I shall soon starve to 
death. ’ 

‘‘When the cat heard what its master said, 
it remarked: ‘Look after me a little, mas- 
ter. Get me a pair of boots, and I’ll show 
you that you have in me a very valuable 
legacy.’ ” 


BALLOON ISLAND 


157 


Andree laughed when Eric had finished 
this story and said: 

‘^Yon are a jolly fellow, Eric, and braver 
than I am. Yes,’’ he continued, resolutely 
shaking off his low spirits, ^^we certainly 
have two very valuable pieces of property in 
our dogs.” And then turning to the dogs, 
he said: 

^^We will take care of you, and you will 
look after us, won’t you, doggies'?” 

If the animals had really understood what 
had been said to them, they could not have 
wagged their tails more expressively. 

^^What shall we do next*?” inquired An- 
dree. 

^^Why dry our clothes as best we can, so 
let’s make a fire. There’s a lot of moss and 
dried grass here. It won’t burn very long, 
but we can keep it going by adding addi- 
tional material. The air is fairly warm, so 
I think it will be safe to take off our clothes, 
wring the water out of them, and spread 


158 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

them out on the rocks where the heat of the 
fire will dry them. ’ ’ 

It was fairly cold even in the July air, so 
that when completely undressed, they felt 
chilly, but the brisk exercise they were com- 
pelled to take to keep the fire going, as well 
as the heat of the fire itself, when they stood 
alongside of it, prevented them from suffer- 
ing much. When their clothes were com- 
pletely dried, they dressed and found the 
warm, dry clothes very comfortable. 

won’t ask what is best to do next,” re- 
marked Andree, ^‘for if you are as hungry 
as I am, Eric, you will agree that we must 
now try to find something to eat. ’ ’ 

^^And something to drink,” said Eric. 

Water is as important as food. Indeed, it 
is one of our most important articles of 
food, as I need not tell you who are so well 
up in chemistry. But before we do this,” 
he continued, ‘‘let us put all our matches 
away except one box apiece.” 


BALLOON ISLAND 


m 

After some searching they found a water- 
tight crevice in the vertical face of the rock 
near them. Placing the boxes in this open- 
ing with their covering of oiled silk, they 
stopped up the front of the opening as well 
as they could with several tightly fitting 
pieces of stones. 

^^We are almost certain,’’ remarked An- 
dree, ^Ho find birds on this island, and since 
this is the breeding season, there should be 
quantities of eggs.” 

They had landed on the southeastern 
coast of the island, which here was very nar- 
row, so they determined to follow the eastern 
coast. 

At first they saw nothing in the way of 
birds, and were beginning to fear there 
might be none on the island. Before long, 
Eric, caught the reflection of the sunlight 
from a pool of water about a hundred feet 
from the coast, and walking near it, he saw 
that it came from a spring of clear water 


160 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

bubbling up from the bottom of a sand cov- 
ered basin. 

% 

^‘Here is something as important as 
birds.’’ 

Finding the water fresh and cool, they 
took a good drink, in which they were joined 
by their dogs. Continuing along the coast 
they were at length greatly relieved to see 
a flock of eider-duck flying along the north- 
ern coast of the island. They could see 
along this coast for several miles toward 
the west. There were multitudes of differ- 
ent kinds of birds, among which, besides the 
eider-duck, they recognized long-tailed 
ducks, brent geese, and black- and red-' 
throated divers. 

There are probably few portions of the 
coasts of the Arctic regions where some spe- 
cies of birds are not found during the brief 
spring and summer, for the speed of some 
of these birds is so great that they can read- 
ily make considerable changes in the areas 


BALLOON ISLAND 


lei 

from which they obtain their food supplies. 
As is well known there are species of geese 
that can fly at a speed of from thirty-flve to 
fifty miles per hour. During their breeding 
season such birds migrate to some distant 
coast in the far north where they are free 
from most of their enemies. 

The birds were not at all frightened by 
the hoys, so by lying down quietly near the 
nests of some of the eider-ducks, and waiting 
until the birds flew near them, they suc- 
ceeded in capturing three large-sized birds. 
Moreover, they had no difficulty in obtaining 
several dozens of fresh goose eggs which 
they found fresh and warm in the nests. 

They then built a stone stove and the birds 
were soon roasting on it. The dogs enjoyed 
the entrails of the birds, as well as a fair 
share of the cooked meat. 

^‘Eric,’^ said Andree, ^Tet’s give the island 
a name. It will be more convenient when 

we are speaking of it.’’ 

11 


162 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

^^Have you any name to propose?’’ in- 
quired Eric. 

‘‘How would Balloon Island do?” 

“Capital,” said Eric. “We will call the 
island Balloon Island, and will take posses- 
sion of it in the name of the United States of 
America.” Then taking off a white silk 
handkerchief he had employed for a necktie, 
and rapidly drawing on its surface thirteen 
stripes and forty-five stars with his lead pen- 
cil, he said : 

“This will represent the United States 
fiag.” Attaching the same to a crevice in a 
vertical wall of rock that was near their fire, 
he continued : “I hereby take possession of 
this island in the name of the United States 
of America.” 

“Breakfast has made me thirsty,” re- 
marked Andree. “Let’s go to the spring 
and get another drink of water and then con- 
tinue our examination of this part of the 
coast.” 


BALLOON ISLAND 


1G3 


As they followed the northern coast to- 
ward the west they could distinguish several 
places w^here narrow valleys sloped gently 
upwards toward the northwest. If the 
island contained much water, its streams 
should be found flowing through these val- 
leys. 

^‘We must keep on the lookout for some 
kind of shelter,’’ said Eric. “While I am 
not now troubled about the question of shel- 
ter, since the July air is fairly warm, and we 
have our Newfoundland dogs to cover us 
should it become chilly, yet if we are obliged 
to remain on the island until the setting in 
of the winter, it will be necessary to And 
some permanent shelter. It will be odd if 
we cannot And a suitable shelter for our- 
selves, and where we can also stow our food 
supplies. At present we are certain of an 
abundant supply of birds and eggs. As 
soon as the cold weather sets in, the birds 
will fly to the south. We must, therefore. 


164 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

collect as large supplies of food as possible, 
and store them where they will keep in 
fairly good condition. If we do this we 
ought not to suffer for food.’’ 

While crossing a part of the island near 
the northern shore, they noticed that in cer- 
tain places the grass and moss grew in es- 
pecially large quantities. Andree asked 
Eric if he could explain why the growth was 
more luxuriant in these places. 

suppose,” replied Eric, ^Hhe fertiliz- 
ing of the soil here is due ta the dung of the 
birds. As you know, the rich guano depos- 
its on the almost rainless western coast of 
Peru are formed by the excrements of the 
birds that breed there. I think, too, that 
these places lie on the south side of some 
elevation where they are sheltered from the 
cold winds from the north.” 

As they were approaching the northern 
coast they heard the characteristic bellow- 
ings and barkings of the walrus. Creeping 


BALLOON ISLAND 


165 


near the coast, and hiding back of some 
rocks, they saw a herd of some twelve wal- 
ruses sporting in the water. The boys re- 
mained watching them for nearly ten min- 
utes, when rising to go, the walruses dis- 
covered them and after looking up in sur- 
prise for a few moments disappeared below 
the surface of the water. 

^‘If we had our rifles with us,’’ remarked 
Eric, ^^one of these large animals would be 
very valuable, since it would provide a plen- 
tiful supply of meat for food, while its blub- 
ber would yield a supply of fuel for our fires 
and lamps.” 

As they walked away they again heard the 
cries of the walrus. Now, however, instead 
of the pleased cries of animals sporting in 
the water, the cries seemed to indicate that 
something had occurred to make them very 
angry, for they took on a furious tone. 
Concluding that something unusual had 
taken place, they stealthily returned to the 


166 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

rocks, and, again hiding, saw a curious spec- 
tacle. About ten of the herd had collected 
on a floating cake of ice, near the shore. 
Between this cake and the shore were two 
large male walruses, or bulls. The boys rec- 
ognized one of these as the leader of the herd 
they had been watching. The other, who 
was somewhat larger than the leader, they 
did not remember seeing before, and cor- 
rectly inferred that he was an intruder, and 
that the leader of the herd was furiously 
fighting to drive him away from that por- 
tion of the coast. The two males were rush- 
ing savagely at each other, inflicting vicious 
wounds with their great ivory tusks. It 
was surprising to note the rapidity with 
which the huge animals moved through the 
water, for, though exceedingly clumsy on 
land, yet in the water they are capable of 
moving at a high speed. 

The fighters employed their great ivory 
tusks agains.t each other in two different 


BALLOON ISLAND 


167 


ways. Sometimes one of the animals would 
approach its adversary, and raising itself in 
the water, would strike its opponent a sharp 
downward blow, burying its tusks in the 
hide of its opponent, and then moving rap- 
idly downwards so as to make a cutting 
wound. The most terrible blows, however, 
were caused by the animals swimming be- 
low each other and striking vicious upward 
blows with their tusks. The water soon be- 
came dyed a deep red with the copious 
streams of blood that issued from these 
wounds. 

"When it became evident that the intruder 
was the stronger of the two, and was getting 
the advantage of the leader of the herd, 
there was a great commotion among the ani- 
mals on the cake of ice. They were evi- 
dently instructing one of the bulls, who was 
on the cake of ice with them, to go to the 
help of their leader ; for, leaving the cake, he 
dove through the water, and coming up be- 


168 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

low the body of the intruder, dug his tusks 
in his belly and almost disemboweled him by 
a rapid succession of powerful upward 
strokes. 

This timely aid saved the day for the 
leader of the herd, who, continuing savagely 
his attack on the intruder, dove beneath his 
now almost inanimate body, and repeated 
the savage upward strokes, so that the ani- - 
mal soon died and, turning belly upwards, 
floated on the surface. 

“It’s lucky,” said Andree, “he has been 
almost cut in pieces. Otherwise his body 
would have been lost by sinking in the 
water. ’ ’ 

“How shall we manage to get the great 
carcass ashore ? ’ ’ inquired Eric. “We must 
get it somehow, and yet it is too huge for us 
to handle.” 

“I hardly know,” replied Andree. “But 
let ’s wait awhile, perhaps it may float in to- 
ward shore.” 


BALLOON ISLAND 


169 


They stood for nearly fifteen minutes 
watching the huge floating mass. They could 
see that it was being slowly carried toward 
the shore, and in fifteen minutes more it had 
reached the shallow water near where they 
were standing. 

“Now,” said Eric, “let’s take off our 
clothes again, wade out and drag it in as 
much nearer as we can.” 

It was cold work, as the boys, after strip- 
ping, waded in the water. 

At first they had but little difficulty in 
pulling it in, since they were aided by the 
buoyancy of the water. When, however, 
the body reached shallow water, they found 
it impossible to move the animal farther. 
Eeturning therefore to the shore for their 
pocket knives, they again waded out and be- 
gan the disagreeable work of cutting the 
flesh and blubber into huge strips which they 
carried to the shore and threw down on the 
rocks near the water. 


170 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

The severe work which they were per- 
forming, together with the warmth in the 
body of the animal, prevented their suffer- 
ing much from the cold. 

When at last they succeeded in cutting up 
the animal they endeavored to remove the 
two ivory tusks, but found this too hard a 
task. 

^^We must let them lie here,’’ remarked 
Eric. Either the birds or small animal- 
culse will remove the rest of the flesh. We 
will come back and remove the tusks some 
other time.” 

They had intended leaving the pieces of 
walrus meat and the blubber on the pile of 
rocks on which they had thrown them, un- 
til they returned from making an examina- 
tion of the island. This, however, they 
found to be impracticable, since great num- 
bers of sea-gulls and other birds began 
greedily feeding on the flesh and blubber. 
The birds were so busily engaged in this 


BALLOON ISLAND 


171 


work that the boys had difficulty in driving 
them away. Indeed, in doing this, they 
killed some six of the largest. As there was 
a number of large flat stones in the neigh- 
borhood, they rapidly built a rough cache in 
which .they deposited the flesh and blubber, 
covering the mass with large flat stones, and 
thus prevented the birds from stealing all 
the meat and blubber. 

When this work was completed, the wis- 
dom of undressing before beginning this dis- 
agreeable task, was evident. They were, in- 
deed, dirty looking boys, their bodies being 
almost covered from head to foot with 
patches of blood and walrus skin. 

Let’s go down to the water and wash 
ourselves, and then get on our clothes,” said 
Andree. 

But while the blood and the smaller frag- 
ments of flesh and blubber were easily re- 
moved, yet the walrus grease was a different 
thing. 


172 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

‘^Wouldn’t you like a good cake of soap, 
Andree?’’ inquired Eric, smiling. 

would, indeed,’’ remarked Andree, 
where is the nearest store, Eric?” he in- 
quired. 

‘‘1 don’t know,” was the reply, ^‘unless it 
is at Camp Elenderson. But no,” he con- 
tinued, correcting himself, ‘^I’m wrong. 
The nearest store where we can get a cake of 
soap I guess would be Hanscombe Island, 
unless, indeed, Kransen Island has some 
soap in its supplies. I say, Andree,” he 
continued, ^‘wouldn’t a good cake of ivory 
soap, and the pool of hot water in the lava 
cave at Kransen Island, make a great combi- 
nation ? ” 

‘‘They certainly would,” was Andree ’s 
reply with a wry face at his comrade. “But 
as we can not go to either of the stores, 
and are not in the lava cave at Kransen 
Island, instead of standing here shivering in 
the cold, come and let me rub some of this 


BALLOON ISLAND 


173 


soft mud over you. It will absorb a part of 
the grease and make you fairly clean.’’ 

‘^Very well,” said Eric, laughing, ‘‘as 
there is plenty of water and I can wash it off 
afterwards, you may do so. Otherwise, I 
would be much dirtier after washing than 
before.” 

Andree coated his companion with the 
dark colored mud, rubbing it briskly until 
he closely resembled a Fiji! Islander. He 
then said: 

“Now give me a rub.” 

After a plunge in the ocean, and a thor- 
ough rubbing of their bodies, they found 
that the walrus oil had been almost entirely 
removed. 

Putting on their clothes, they continued 
their examination of the island. 

As they walked along the coast farther to- 
ward the west, both the number and variety 
of the birds increased. This part of the 
coast was evidently a great breeding place, 


174 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

SO that during the few brief months of sum- 
mer there should be no difficulty in obtain- 
ing supplies of food, as well as great quanti- 
ties of eggs, and, since they now had a fairly 
large supply of walrus blubber for fuel, 
they would have oil for their lamps and 
stoves. 

When they reached a part of the coast 
about one-third the length of the island, they 
came to the mouth of a fairly large stream 
of water that here discharged its waters into 
the ocean. The stream was too wide at its 
mouth to permit them readily to cross it. 
Following it a short distance along its banks 
for about half a mile, they readily crossed 
on a number of flat stones that projected 
above the water. 

Farther along the coast they came to an- 
other stream which was evidently the prin- 
cipal drainage system of the island. The 
mouth of this stream was so wide, and the 
volume of water so great, that they could not 


BALLOON ISLAND 


1Y6 


pass over to the other side, so they de- 
termined to follow its banks up toward the 
highlands in the northwestern parts of the 
island, where the stream evidently had its 
source. 

Before leaving the mouth of the river, 
they rested for a few moments to make some 
brief notes as to the kind of birds they had 
seen during their walk along the coast. Be- 
sides the birds already mentioned, there 
were great numbers of snow-buntings or the 
Arctic singing birds, a bird whose sweet 
notes are especially pleasant when being 
heard in so bleak a portion of the world. 
Besides these there were also many auks. 

They noted that even in this distant north- 
ern region the birds had not. been able en- 
tirely to escape their enemies; for, there 
were various birds of prey that lived on the 
weaker birds. The most important of these 
jDredatory birds was the sea-eagle. This bird 
was a great enemy of birds like the divers. 


1Y6 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

While seated at the mouth of the river 
they had an opportunity of watching a sea- 
eagle suddenly sweep down and endeavor 
to capture a diver. The diver at first es- 
caped and sought refuge by plunging sev- 
eral times beneath the water. Its pursuer, 
however, did not seem to worry itself. It 
knew by experience that it was only a ques- 
tion of time when the bird would be obliged 
to rise to the surface. This it did and at 
last, when too exhausted to return suddenly 
was seized by its enemy and dragged away to 
its death. 

As the day was now far spent, they de- 
cided to retrace their steps, and return to the 
place they had buried their birds and eggs. 
After reaching this place they took with 
them a piece of blubber for fuel, they re- 
turned to the spot where they had built their 
fire, and relighting it, soon had the birds 
roasting. They then buried some of the 
eggs in the smouldering embers, and en- 


BALLOON ISLAND 


lYY 


joyed an excellent meal of roast birds and 
eggs. 

After supper the boys sat for awhile look- 
ing out over the ocean in the direction of 
Grant Land and Camp Henderson. In their 
imagination they could see the comfortable 
quarters of Camp Henderson, as well as 
their friends, sorrowing, they felt sure, at 
their sudden disappearance, and possibly 
even mourning them as dead. 

As they sat talking, they discussed the 
chances of aid being sent them either from 
Camp Henderson or from Hanscombe 
Island. Of course, this depended entirely 
on whether their friends at Camp Hender- 
son were aware of their escape in the bal- 
loon. If they knew of this, of course, they 
could send word by wireless to the people on 
Hanscombe Island. 

At last Eric, looking up, and seeing An- 
dree’s troubled countenance, said, in an as- 
sumed merry tone: 

12 


178 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

Don’t look SO glum, my boy. We are 
much more comfortable here than we would 
have been were we still swimming in the 
cold water toward land.” 

“All right,” replied Andree. “Now I’ll 
try to be good and make the best of matters 
as they stand. Let’s turn in. There is a 
hard day’s work before us to-morrow, and 
we need rest.” So lying down with the two 
dogs beside them, the boys soon fell asleep. 
At first their dogs kept watch for the pur- 
pose of keeping guard over their masters, 
but in an hour or so, the dogs followed their 
masters to dreamland. So passed the first 
night on Balloon Island. 


CHAPTER IX 


FURTHER EXAMINATION OF BALLOON ISLAND 

T hey were awakened early next morn- 
ing by their faithful dogs touching 
them gently with their paws and then, fail- 
ing to attract their attention, licking their 
faces. 

Hello,’’ said Eric, who was the first to 
awaken, seeing the liberty Snowfiake was 
taking with him, what’s the matter, old 
girl ? Getting hungry ^ Do you want us to 
get up and get breakfast ready?” 

The dog tried to indicate as well as she 
could that that was just what she wanted. 

Calling Andree, whom Hector had been 
unable to awaken, they were soon up, and 
bathing at the spring, prepared breakfast 
by roasting a number of eggs and toasting 
179 


180 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

some of the steaks from the breasts of the 
birds, for they did not take the time neces- 
sary for roasting a whole bird. 

^‘Wedl soon get tired of roast birds,’’ said 
Eric. Let’s contrive some plan for having 
boiled birds, boiled eggs, or now and then a 
pot of walrus or bird soup. A mixture of 
walrus and bird flesh, with a little rich bird 
fat, instead of butter, a few raw eggs stirred 
through the mixture when nearly done, 
should make a fairly good soup.” 

‘^The idea is capital,” said Andree. 
^‘Tou make my mouth water, but where can 
we get a pot in which to boil the soup ^ ’ ’ 
^‘Should we be fortunate enough to dis- 
cover a deposit of soapstone on the island, 
we could easily fashion pieces of it into ket- 
tles, pots, or pans ; for, as you know, soap- 
stone is soft and easily shaped and will stand 
the heat of a Are without being destroyed.” 

After a hearty breakfast, the boys started 
out with their dogs, for a further explora- 


FURTHER EXAMINATION 181 

tion of the island. This time, however, they 
determined to walk along the southern coast. 
They found the water on this side of the 
island colder than on the northern coast. 
It was, however, except here and there, 
where there were several cakes of floating 
ice to be seen, comparatively free from 
large ice masses. Under the influence of 
the strong south wind that was still blow- 
ing, large waves were coming in from 
the ocean and striking against the coast. 
The water here was fairly deep, and, except 
at the extreme southeast of the island where 
they had landed, a high precipice of light 
colored rock rose almost vertically out of the 
water. Its height near the southeastern 
coast was only a few feet above the level of 
the sea, but gradually rose toward the 
northwest to a greater height. Indeed, on 
the greater part of the southern coast the 
vertical wall rose so abruptly from the water 
that, except here and there, it was impossi- 


182 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

ble to walk along the sea, except on the top 
of the headland. 

Noting the force with which the waves 
were breaking against the face of the prec- 
ipice, Eric remarked : 

‘‘Had we reached land at this point, we 
would undoubtedly have perished.’^ 

The island was highest at the northwest- 
ern extremity where the precipice reached an 
elevation of, perhaps, 1,200 feet. But near 
the extreme corner, although the precipitous 
.wall still remained, yet, at a distance of 
about two hundred feet above the sea, it 
descended by a gentle slope to the coast. 

The boys walked along the top of the head- 
land as it gradually ascended to the west. 
On reaching the highest point near the 
southwestern end of the island, and looking 
across the island toward the north they 
could obtain an excellent idea of the general 
extent and character of the island, which ex- 
tended in a general east and west direction 


FURTHER EXAMINATION 


183 


for about five and a-lialf miles, and in a 
north and south direction for from two to 
two and a-half miles. The top of the head- 
land formed a nearly level plateau that was 
in places from one-sixteenth to one-eigh- 
teenth of a mile in breadth. 

Near the northern edge of the plateau, at 
a point near the middle of the island, they 
were fortunate in finding an excellent de- 
posit of soapstone. Selecting several fine 
specimens of a size suitable for the shaping 
of pots, kettles and pans, they placed them 
where they could readily get them on their 
return to camp. 

Continuing toward the extreme north- 
western coast of the island they reached a 
point where the plateau gradually ascended 
to the highest point of land. 

Climbing to the summit at this point they 
found that it had an elevation of what they 
judged to be, perhaps, fifteen hundred feet 
above the level of the sea. 


184 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

‘^Eric,” said Andree, ^ ‘let’s name some of 
the different parts of the island we can see 
from here. Suppose we begin with the larg- 
est of the two streams. I name it Eric 
Eiver,” said Andree. Now what shall we 
call the mountain ? ’ ’ 

“I name it Mt. Andree/’ said Eric, ‘^and 
the point on the headland where we 
landed?” 

Let’s call it Balloon Point, remarked 
Andree. 

‘^And the smaller river?” 

‘^Suppose we call it the Hjalmar River, 
after our friend, the boatswain.” 

The air being extremely clear, they eag- 
erly scanned the horizon in all directions 
to see if there were other land masses in 
sight, but nothing could be seen, except to- 
ward the northeast, where Eric saw a dim 
line that he thought might be a land mass of 
considerable size. 

‘^Look, Andree,” he said. ‘‘Can you see’ 


FURTHER EXAMINATION 


185 


anything in that direction?’’ pointing to 
the northeast. 

see a grayish streak along the horizon, 
but whether it be land or not, I cannot say.” 

it is land we may reach it some of 
these days,” said Eric. 

^^What name shall we give to the broad 
plateau that extends along nearly the entire 
southern edge of the island?” 

‘‘Suppose we call it the Plateau Road. 
It would form an excellent place for a road 
though it’s quite a stretch for the imagina- 
tion to conceive of one here.” 

“Now,” said Eric, “let’s see if we can 
safely descend to the coast.” 

In order to avoid the steep precipice on 
the northern coast of the island, they de- 
scended the western slope of Mt. Andree, 
which inclined gently toward the ocean, and 
then walking around to the southwestern 
coast, they reached the foot of the precipice, 
which at this place was about nine hundred 


186 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

feet high. Its base, however, was about two 
hundred feet above the level of the sea. 

They were greatly pleased to find a spring 
of clear water near the western end of the 
precipice. 

^‘What kind of rock is this, Andree*?’’ 
asked Eric, knowing that his friend’s chem- 
ical studies had made him a fairly good min- 
eralogist. 

^‘It looks like limestone,” was the reply, 
and then taking out his pocket knife and 
finding that he could readily scratch its sur- 
face, he said : 

‘‘Yes, it is a mass of limestone.” 

“If I correctly remember, Andree,” said 
Eric, “the little geology I > studied while in 
New York City, masses of limestone are apt 
to contain caves or caverns, formed by the 
water slowly dissolving out the rock. 
Wouldn’t it be jolly if we could find a 
good sized cave somewhere in the face 
of this wall? This would be a splendid 


FURTHER EXAMINATION 187 

place for a shelter. .Besides, the northern 
coast, from which we must hope to obtain 
our food supply, is readily accessible from 
this part of the island. Moreover, the preci- 
pice faces the south, and would, therefore, 
form an excellent place from which we could 
watch for any balloon that might come to 
our rescue. 

^‘That’s a great idea, Eric,’^ replied An- 
dree. Let’s look for a cave, for even if it 
should be only a small one, we might be able 
to make fairly comfortable quarters in it.” 

At first the face of this part of the preci- 
pice appeared to be absolutely free from any 
openings or cavities. At last, however, not 
far from the stream of water, they found a 
cave-like opening that extended into the 
mass of limestone for a distance of, perhaps, 
fifty feet. Entering the cave, they found 
that it was fairly dry, since its opening was 
sufficiently large to permit the free entrance 
of the air, and indeed, to some extent, the 


188 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

sunshine. On each side of the main open- 
ing the cave extended for a distance of about 
one hundred feet, with, however, a much 
lower roof. 

At a distance of about five hundred feet 
toward the east they found another, but 
much smaller, cave. 

Suppose we take the larger cave for our 
permanent shelter,” said Eric. ^^It will 
be all right for this purpose.” 

Agreed,” replied Andree, do not 
think we could easily find a better place. ’ ’ 

^‘Then let us clean up the cave, and make 
it as comfortable as possible.” 

The examination of the cave showed that 
the fioor was covered with a fine sand. 

wonder how this sand got here,” said 
Eric, carefully examining it. ‘^It seems to 
have come from the sea. It might have 
been blown here by the wind, but I don’t un- 
derstand how the roof of the cave should be 
so smooth and should be so free from stalac- 


FURTHER EXAMINATION 


189 


tites, or pendants of limestone, nor, indeed, 
liow the floor of the cave should be so level, 
unless, indeed, this layer of sand is very 
thick, for limestone caves, that have been 
eaten out by fresh water slowly trickling 
through from above, always contain besides 
the stalactites, mounds or hillocks called 
stalagmites immediately below them, that 
have been formed by the heaping up of lime- 
stone deposited from the drippings of 
water.’’ 

The problem was evidently difficult for 
Eric to understand, for he continued in si- 
lence for ten minutes or longer. At last, 
however, he suddenly looked up and said : 

^‘Andree, I think I have solved the prob- 
lem. This end of the island has been slowly 
rising. When our cave was formed, this 
part of the limestone cliff was directly 
exposed to the waves of the ocean. It was 
these waves that hollowed out the cavity, 
and, at the same time, left the floor covered 


190 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

with sand. If I am right we shall probably 
find on the walls of the cave smaller holes or 
spaces filled with the same kind of sand.’’ 

^^If that is so,” remarked Andree, ^^and 
these openings are not too high above the 
floor, they will form jolly cupboards or 
closets, in which we can keep the food sup- 
plies we may get.” 

An examination of the walls of the cave 
disclosed a number of sand-filled cavities, so 
that by clearing out those that were only 
about five feet above the fioor of the cave, 
they thus found themselves provided with a 
number of excellent closets in the solid rock. 

They now commenced collecting a quan- 
tity of dry moss and grass to form a bed in 
the cave. They cleared out the opening of 
the spring, lining its bottom with flat stones, 
leaving it so that a fairly large basin of 
clear water could collect in it. They then 
commenced the more laborious task of 
bringing to their cave the various things 


FURTHER EXAMINATION 101 

they had found and storing them away in 
the cave. 

The birds and the birds’ eggs were care- 
fully placed in some of the stone cupboards. 
The matches were stored in a small dry 
opening at a distance from what they would 
probably use as a fire-place. 

The most difficult part of the work con- 
sisted in carrying the blubber and the wal- 
rus meat to the cave. They stored the blub- 
ber in the small cave to the east. The wal- 
rus meat was cut into strips and exposed to 
the air by attaching it to the walls of the 
cliff by driving stone wedges into crevices. 
Here, under the infiuence of the air, it soon 
dried sufficiently to remain fresh for a long 
time. 

The second day after the discovery of the 
cave a dismal fog set in, but they spent the 
time profitably shaping the pieces of soap- 
stone into rough pots, kettles and other 
cooking utensils. They also formed several 


192 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

lamps of the same material, which, when 
supplied with a wick of dried moss and 
pieces of blubber for oil, formed admirable 
sources of light, as well as heat. By means 
of these stoves they could readily cook 
or fry steaks of birds, or pieces of walrus 
meat. Eric fashioned an article which he 
called a frying pan. This consisted of a 
flat surface of soapstone provided with nar- 
row sides. Employing the fat of the birds 
in the place of lard or butter, they were able 
by its use to obtain fried eggs as well as 
omelets. 

As they sat listening to the waves break 
against the coast, Eric remarked: 

‘‘Andree, let’s spend a part of to-morrow 
examining the southern portion of the coast 
that we can reach. We must keep on the 
outlook in order to see whether any of the 
bundles of the goods we threw into the ocean 
from the balloon have been thrown by the 
waves on the coast.” 


FURTHER EXAMINATION 


m 


^‘It would be great, Eric,’’ exclaimed An- 
dree, ‘‘if some of those things should come 
our way, especially the barrels containing 
our guns, revolvers, ammunition, and other 
articles.” 

‘‘Yes,” remarked Eric, “that would be 
fine, especially if we get our rifles, provided, 
of course, the ammunition reached us in 
good condition. ” 

“Do you think there is any chance of 
these articles reaching the island?” in- 
quired Andree. 

“It is impossible to say, since the distance 
to the island was considerable. Many of 
these bundles may have -sunk and others may 
have failed to reach our island. I think, 
however, that at least some of the goods may 
come as far as this.” 

13 


CHAPTER X 


JETSAM AND FLOTSAM 

I T had stopped raining while the boys 
were sleeping, so that when they arose in 
the morning the sky was clear and the sun 
was shining brightly. After breakfast they 
walked along the beach in front of the cave 
house, but nothing in the way of the floating 
parcels they had thrown out of the balloon 
was to be seen. The wind, however, was 
still blowing from the south, although the 
waves had decreased considerably in 
strength. 

‘‘This doesn’t look very promising,” re- 
marked Andree. 

“Oh, I don’t know,” replied his compan- 
ion. “Remember, this is but a small part of 
the coast. Let’s examine the beach at Bal- 

194 


JETSAM AND FLOTSAM 


195 


loon Point, it is where we landed and, it 
seems to me, is the most probable place to 
recover the flotsam.” 

‘‘That’s a new word for me, Eric. What 
does it mean?” 

“It is a legal word, I remember Uncle 
Horace explaining to me one day in New 
York City, when I had been reading a news- 
paper report of a maritime case concerning 
the ownership of merchandise, picked up 
Avhile floating in the sea after a severe storm. 
The word flotsam means any goods found 
floating in the sea, into which they have ei- 
ther been purposely thrown in order to 
lighten a vessel, when in danger of ship- 
wreck, washed overboard during a storm, or 
that have gone down with a sinking ship, but 
afterwards floated on the surface. The 
w^ord jetsam is used in an opposite sense to 
the word flotsam, and indicates any of the 
above articles, that, owing to their weight, 
have sunk and remained on the bottom. Ac- 


196 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

cording to the law any such articles if picked 
up by others, can still be claimed by the own- 
ers of the vessel, provided a sum of money 
known as salvage be paid for services ren- 
dered in their recovery.’’ 

‘ ‘ Thank you, Eric. I understand. I fear 
that our goods have by this time gone to the 
bottom, and have become in a legal sense, 
jetsam rather than flotsam.” 

^^We won’t give up so soon, Andree. 
Let’s climb to the top of the plateau, and 
walk along the headland to Balloon Point. 
I should not be surprised if we found some 
of the flotsam there.” 

As they were nearing Balloon Point, their 
dogs commenced barking, not as if angry, 
but as if greatly pleased, and ran ahead of 
them toward the beach. 

‘‘They smell something they like,” re- 
marked Eric. 

On reaching the beach the boys found each 
of the dogs tugging away at a parcel that 


JETSAM AND FLOTSAM 


197 


had been washed up from the water. They 
were smelling certain portions of these par- 
cels, as though greatly pleased at the con- 
tents. As the boys approached them they 
looked up at them, wagging their tails, as 
much as to say : 

Won’t you let us have some of this?” 

This part of the beach was strewn with a 
number of packages they recognized as those 
they had thrown out of the balloon, and be- 
gan to draw them up on the beach, far above 
the water line. 

‘^ISTow let’s untie the bundles and see what 
things the sea has cast up for us. ” 

Sitting down by the side of their goods, 
Andree said : 

^^What parcel shall we begin with, Eric?” 

Don’t ask me that question, Andree; ask 
the dogs,” remarked the other in a laugh- 
ing tone. 

^^Oh, I understand, Eric,” said Andree; 
for looking, he saw that the dogs were still 


198 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

smelling at the parcels that each of them had 
run to on reaching the beach. Every now 
and then the intelligent animals would look 
at them and barking joyously as if to say: 

Please begin with this bundle, and untie 
what we are smelling at.’’ 

‘‘All right, doggies,” said Eric, laughing, 
“we will begin at the parcels you were the 
first to discover.” 

The parcels or packages referred to were 
attached to the two large ring-buoys, which, 
owing to their peculiar construction, were 
able to fioat a considerable weight. The 
parts of the parcels at which the dogs had 
been smelling were found to contain several 
twenty-five-pound packages of dog-biscuits. 

These packages, as indeed, all the pack- 
ages of goods stowed away in the bal- 
loon, were ingeniously constructed, for the 
express purpose of preventing the entrance 
of water. They consisted of pasteboard 
boxes, that had been rendered impervious to 


JETSAM AND FLOTSAM 


199 


water by soaking in melted paraffine. 
Moreover, the boxes were made of double 
thickness, filled with corrugated pasteboard, 
which not only stiffened them, but also 
greatly decreased their weight. 

Let’s undo one of the packages,” said 
Andree, ^^and give the dogs a treat. We can 
then, at the same time, see the condition in 
which these goods may be.” 

Opening the packages they found that, 
owing to its ingenious construction, the bis- 
cuits were almost as dry as the day on which 
they had been sealed up. 

Tossing a biscuit apiece to each of the 
dogs they said: 

“There, sample those, and tell us whether 
you think they are good.” 

The dogs did not think it necessary to lose 
the use of their mouths while feeding, and 
yet, at the same time, being well brought up 
animals, and, moreover, grateful to their 
masters, although they kept on eating, en- 


200 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

deavored to say by the waggings of their 
tails : 

^^The samples are good. We are ready 
for another whenever you see fit to give it 
to us.’^ 

Besides the dog biscuits, there were simi- 
lar pasteboard boxes containing small 
packages of black breakfast tea, as well as 
boxes filled with hermetically sealed cans of 
dried vegetables and evaporated fruits, or 
fruits from which nearly all the water had 
been removed by placing them in a vacuous 
space while exposed to a moderately high 
temperature. 

It will be remembered that the larger 
packages of goods had been tightly secured 
to the buoys, wooden planks and other light 
objects, by wrapping long pieces of the 
hempen rope used for the net-work that 
passed over the top of the balloon, and em- 
ployed for holding the basket of the balloon 
in place. They were careful not to cut this 


JETSAM AND FLOTSAM 201 

rope, or destroj^ it, since they knew it would 
be extremely valuable during their sojourn 
on the island. 

‘^Let us now see what the other buoy- 
package contains,’’ cried Eric. Here they 
found, besides the package of dog-biscuits, 
several twenty-five-pound parcels of roast 
coffee packed in the hermetically sealed 
pasteboard boxes, two twenty-five-pound 
packages of sweet chocolate. 

The boys were not unlike the dogs, when 
they discovered the packages of chocolate. • 

^^Eric,” said Andree, ^4f I had a tail I 
would wag it like the dogs did, to suggest the 
advisability of our sampling the chocolate.” 

^^Oh, I am willing to take the wagging of 
your jaws instead of your tail,” remarked 
his companion, as he proceeded to open a 
package of the sweet chocolate. Owing to 
the peculiar character of the pasteboard box, 
it was found that the chocolate was perfectly 
dry. 


202 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

Another package which they undid was 
found to contain pasteboard boxes of oat- 
meal, hominy grits, water crackers, graham 
biscuits, each in ten-pound packages. They 
were especially pleased to see in some 
smaller packages, several parcels of dried 
herbs, such as th3nme, sage, including pack- 
ages of black and red pepper, and several 
large parcels of white table salt. 

Another large package that had been at- 
tached to a number of boards was found to 
consist of a quantity of twenty-five-pound 
parcels of cornmeal, together with several 
of fiour. In addition to a box containing 
candles, and last, but not least, two boxes of 
ivory soap. 

^^I’m glad to see that,’’ remarked An- 
dree, ‘Hhat’s the kind of soap I like.” 

‘‘Yes,” replied Eric, “it leaves the skin 
nice and soft. Besides, if you put it in the 
water it fioats instead of sinking and run- 
ning away in a game of hide-and-seek, when. 


JETSAM AND FLOTSAM 


203 


of course, it always gets back of you, where 
you cannot easily reach it/^ 

say, Eric,” remarked Andree, ^^we for- 
got one store the other day when we were 
talking about buying. soap.” 

Where was that?” inquired his compan- 
ion. 

‘‘The branch store we started when we 
threw these packages off the balloon.” 

In another one of the packages that was 
floated by means of the heavy boards from 
the bottom of the basket of the balloon was 
found a set of carpenter’s tools, several 
small casks of nails of different sizes, chisels, 
augers, as well as several shovels, and min- 
eral hammers, as well as other articles, pos- 
sessing considerable weight, and, therefore, 
requiring the buoyancy of the wooden boards 
in order to float them. 

But so far they had seen nothing of the 
two water barrels, with their precious con- 
tents of revolvers, arms, ammunition, and es- 


204 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

pecially their chronometer, barometer, ther- 
mometer and sextant. 

^‘We won’t give them up for several days 
yet,” remarked Eric. ‘‘I don’t understand 
their not being here, for it seems to me that 
they possessed the best chance of floating. 
Don’t you remember the care we took in seal- 
ing up the barrels, and covering the top of 
the one containing our instruments, with 
several layers of oil cloth'?” 

Let’s begin now to carry these goods to 
the cave. There are only two of us, and it 
will need many trips. ’ ’ 

‘^Only two to carry?” inquired Eric. 
am afraid your arithmetic is bad. The way 
I count there are four to carry.” 

don’t understand how you make it 
four,” remarked Andree. 

“Hector and Snowflake, make four, don’t 
they?” 

“You’re right, Eric, and I am very stupid 
in not thinking of that before. Of course. 


JETSAM AND FLOTSAM 


205 


the dogs can help us. We can easily tie 
bundles to their backs.’’ 

^‘We certainly can,” replied Eric. 

But even with the help of the dogs it re- 
quired hard work and several trips before 
everything was transported from Balloon 
Point to the cave-house. 

That night, before turning in, Eric pro- 
posed that they celebrate the safe arrival of 
their goods, by a special supper prepared 
from the many foods they had now safely 
stowed away in the cave. 

Besides many other dainties, that supper 
consisted of several cups of excellent choco- 
late, made with condensed milk, and sweet- 
ened with white sugar. There were also 
toasted crackers covered with preserved 
cherries. Nor did they forget their dogs, 
for besides giving them two additional dog 
biscuits, they also gave them some of the 
sweets of which they appeared to be espec- 
ially fond. 


206 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

But there were still missing the two bar- 
rels containing so much of value to them. 
Early next morning they sought the north- 
ern coast of the island, and walked along 
carefully examining the beach to see if any- 
thing had been thrown up from the sea. It " 
was not, however, until they got near the 
mouth of Eric Eiver that they saw one of 
the long-sought-for barrels. It was float- 
ing head upwards at about fifteen feet from 
the shore almost directly opposite the riv- 
er’s mouth. 

On the previous day, while unwrapping 
their packages, Andree noticed that Eric 
had selected a length of one of the strong 
pieces of hempen cord about thirty feet 
long, and, after tying a strong loop at 
one end, large enough to go around one of 
his wrists, and a running noose at the other 
end, had coiled the rope in a loose coil nearly 
two feet in diameter, which he had slung over 
his head and one of his shoulders. 


JETSAM AND FLOTSAM 207 

That morning, on starting out, Eric had 
thrown this coil of rope over his left shoul- 
der as before, when Andree inquired : 

^^What are you going to do with that, 
EricT’ 

will show you the first time I use it,” 
he remarked. 

As soon as he saw the fioating barrel, An- 
dree sat down and commenced to unlace his 
shoes. 

^^What are you going to do?” inquired 
Eric. 

‘‘Take off my shoes and trousers and 
wade in after the barrel.” 

“Don’t do that. “Let me show you what 
I brought this coil of rope. for. It is what 
we call in the west a lasso.” 

Removing the coil of rope from his head 
and shoulders, he held the greater portion 
of the loose coil in his left hand, slipping the 
small coil at one end over the wrist of this 
hand. Then grasping the end of the loose 


m CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

coil in Ms rigM hand, he began swinging the 
loop rapidly around his head, at the same 
time, keeping his eye fixed on the barrel, as 
it was moved up and down by the waves. 
Suddenly he let go the loop and the coil un- 
wrapping from his hand, moved swiftly to- 
ward the barrel, and fell so that the loop end 
dropped over the barrel. Then suddenly 
pulling the other end, Eric tightened the 
noose, so that it was firmly wound around 
the barrel. 

‘‘What a wonderful chap you are, Eric,” 
his companion remarked. “Was that dumb 
luck, or do you think you could do it again?” 

“Wait until we get the barrel on shore,” 
replied Eric, “and if there is time I will 
show you.” 

By pulling the other end of .the lasso they 
succeeded in drawing the barrel up the 
mouth of Eric River, and by walking along 
the bank of the stream succeeded in draw- 
ing it a half-mile up the stream, when, 


JETSAM AND FLOTSAM 


209 


pulling the barrel to the shore, they com- 
menced unpacking it. 

They found their rifles and revolvers, as 
well as a small quantity of shells necessary 
for loading them. Considerable water had 
leaked in at the top of the barrel, but for- 
tunately, the shells having been packed in 
water-tight boxes, were quite dry. They 
also found in the barrel a magniflcent pair 
of fleld glasses, arranged like opera glasses, 
for the simultaneous use of both eyes. But 
there was one thing that especially pleased 
them. They found in this barrel an Ameri- 
can flag with a strong flag-staff. 

^‘We will plant this flag on the summit of 
Mt. Andree,'’ said Eric^ “the next time we 
go there.’’ 

When the barrel was unpacked the boys 
began to take their rifles and revolvers apart 
> and thoroughly dry and cleanse them. Some 
rust had collected on the guns, but since 
they had purposely left them slightly greasy, 

14 


210 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

the rust had not penetrated very far, so that 
they soon had them cleaned and in good con- 
dition. 

Andree now remarked to Erie : 

^^Now we have time, please show me 
whether you can throw your lasso at me as 
well as you did at the barrel.’’ 

^‘All right,” said Eric, laughing, stand 
about twenty feet from me, and I ’ll throw it 
over your head. 

Andree went the required distance and 
called out to Eric in a mocking voice which 
betrayed little doubt of the result. 

^^How shall I stand? Shall I hold my 
arms upwards, so as to help the lasso slip 
over them?” 

‘‘No,” replied Eric, “on the contrary, do 
the best you can to keep the lasso from pass- 
ing over your head. I intend to throw the 
loop over your head and make it pass down 
over your arms, so as to hold them tight 
against your body. So keep on the lookout. 


JETSAM AND FLOTSAM 


211 


and do. the best you can to stop this. If you 
see the lasso coming, dodge.’’ 

^^What are you giving me, Eric. Of 
course I can keep that thing from going over 
my head and shoulders. I could run out of 
reach before it half got by me.” 

Andree did not know what an expert 
could do with a lasso ; for Eric began swing- 
ing the loop around his head, carefully 
watching every movement made by Andree. 
At last, when the latter had assumed a po- 
sition that satisfied him, Eric let go the loop. 
The rope uncoiling, sped rapidly toward 
Andree, and slipping down over his head 
and shoulders, his arms were tightly bound 
to his sides by Eric drawing his end of the 
lasso tight. 

Splendid,” exclaimed Andree. ^^Did 
you learn this on the ranch? Try it again, 
I am sure I can keep it from slipping over 
my head and arms now I understand how 
you did it. ’ ’ And again going from his com- 


212 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

panion he stood still at the same distance as 
before. 

Eric said nothing, but holding the lasso as 
before and swinging the free end around his 
head, he stood watching his friend who as- 
sumed various attitudes that he was sure 
would prevent the lasso from slipping over 
him as before, but at last he was in a position 
that appeared to be satisfactory^ Eric 
again freed the end of the lasso, which sped 
rapidly toward Andree, and slipping over 
his head and arms, tightly bound them to his 
sides as before. 

‘^That’s certainly great,’’ said Andree. 
^ AVhy have you never told me about the skill 
you possess with the lasso?” 

‘‘In the first place,” remarked Eric, “I 
have never thought about it. Then, in the 
next place, I don’t like to brag or show off 
the few accomplishments I possess, and there 
certainly was no reason why I should tell 
you. 


JETSAM AND FLOTSAM 


213 


^‘Were tliere many of the cowboys on the 
ranch that could throw the lasso better than 
you?” 

Eric did not answer this question, but 
merely said: 

believe I was regarded as skilful with 
the lasso.” 

He might have said there were none on the 
ranch who could excel him in the use of this 
peculiar weapon.- 

^^Eric,” said Andree, ^Svill you teach me 
how to use the lasso?” 

Certainly. Remind me to-night after 
supper, or sooner, if we get things packed 
away in the cave-house.” 


CHAPTER XI 


TO KRANSEN ISLAN^D A CAKE OF FLOATING 
ICE 

FTER they had carried all their goods 



to the cave-house, and safely packed 
the ammunition in a dry part of the cave at 
a distance from the fire-place, they thought 
it wise to take an account of stock by neatly 
entering in one of their note books the kind 
and amount of their recovered goods. 

As soon as this work was completed, 
Eric gave Andree his first lesson in casting 
the lasso. Andree tried to do as he was told, 
but was so unsuccessful that he was much 
discouraged. It seemed to him that he 
would never acquire the art, but Eric said : 

Don’t be discouraged. Lasso throwing 
is difficult to acquire. You’re doing very 


214 


ON A FLOATING CAKE OF ICE 215 

well for a beginner. I think you will soon 
be able to make a fairly good cast.’’ 

It will be remembered that among the 
many articles taken from the barrel they had 
just unpacked was a pair of powerful field 
glasses. As soon as the lesson in lasso cast- 
ing was over, Eric began cleansing the 
glasses, and as soon as he had completed this 
work he focused them on some distant ob- 
ject, and said: 

Let’s climb to the top of Mt. Andree, and 
examine with the glasses the faint streak on 
the northeast horizon we believe to be land.” 

‘‘Good,” exclaimed Andree, as he fol- 
lowed Eric, who had begun to climb the 
slopes of the mountain. “At the same time 
we will fiy the American flag from the top 
of the mountain. Eric, we can’t be very 
far from Kransen Island. Don’t you think 
that is Kransen Island which lies to the 
northeast?” 

“That’s just what I have been thinking,” 


216 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

was the reply. we could only be sure 
that it is Kransen Island, and that there is 
any possible way of reaching it, we ought to 
try to go there. Once there, we could set up 
^the wireless apparatus and let Camp Hen- 
derson know we are safe. Indeed, even if 
we are not able to do this, since we know that 
Commander Kransen intends to establish a 
permanent station on that island, we would 
be sure of seeing our friends again by sim- 
ply waiting for them.” 

When they reached the summit of Mt. 
Andree, Eric took the powerful field glasses 
and focused them on the faint streak seen 
on the northeast horizon. He could now dis- 
tinctly see a line of land extending in a gen- 
erally easterly and westerly direction. 

^Ht is certainly a big piece of land,” he 
exclaimed, handing his companion the 
glasses. Moreover, it is much larger than 
Balloon Island. Take the glass and see if 
you can recognize anything you remember 


ON A FLOATING CAKE OF ICE 217 

seeing when we visited Kransen Island.’’ 

As Andree looked through the glasses, he 
said : 

^ ^You’re right, Eric. It’s land and is 
much larger than Balloon Island, hut 
whether it is Kransen Island or not, I can- 
not say.” 

^^How far off do you think it is*?” in- 
quired Eric. 

^^I don’t know. As a guess I would say 
from eighty to a hundred miles. You must 
remember, however, that the air is very 
clear, and we are at an elevation of at least 
fifteen hundred feet, so that it might be 
much farther off.” 

Eric now took the glasses and looked 
through them for at least eight minutes, 
carefully studying what he saw. Then there 
slowly came out the different conclusions 
that he had reached as a result of this study. 

“Its general direction is the same as that 
of Kransen Island. Its general outline, too. 


218 CAST AWAY AT THE*NORTH POLE 

is the same. But, of course, at this distance 
it is impossible to say with certainty that it 
is Kransen Island.’’ 

‘‘Eric,” inquired Andree, “do you happen 
to remember the correct latitude of Kran- 
sen Island?” 

‘ ‘ Do I remember my own name, ’ ’ was the 
reply. “Why, of course I remember it, 
since it included the l^orth Pole and ex- 
tended on both sides of the North Pole, the 
latitude of different parts of its coast, would 
be something between 88° 30' and 89° 30' N. 
lat.” 

“If we had our sextant with us,” re- 
marked Andree, “we might readily get the 
exact latitude of Balloon Island, and thus 
be better able to judge whether that is Kran- 
sen Island or not.” 

“That’s true,” replied Eric, “so you see it 
is a matter of the greatest importance that 
we make every effort to find the missing bar- 
rel, since in it we will find not only our sci- 


ON A FLOATING CAKE OF ICE 


219 


entific instruments, and an additional sup- 
ply of ammunition and shells for our rifles 
and revolvers, but especially the sextant, by 
the use of which we could calculate our lati- 
tude. Let’s give all of to-morrow and the 
next few days to explore thoroughly the en- 
tire coast of Balloon Island to see if in this 
way we can find the missing barrel. ’ ’ 

^^And if it be Kransen Island, what 
then^” 

^^Then we will take any reasonable chance 
of reaching the Land of the North Pole. 
Once there, we are reasonably sure of seeing 
our friends again, while if we remain here 
we may never see them. ’ ’ 

They started off the next day with their 
dogs, rifles and revolvers, to make a thorough 
search of the coast, planning to walk around 
the entire island from the western coast, as 
far as Balloon Point. 

Besides carrying food with them they 
bound a number of other necessary articles 


220 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

such as the tea-pot and oil lamps, and some 
food products on their dogs, which instead 
of running away, so as to escape their bur- 
dens, appeared to be only too glad to carry 
anything for their masters. 

The excursion around the western, north- 
ern and eastern coasts of the island was very 
pleasant, and during it they saw many 
things that interested them. 

On reaching Balloon Point they saw noth- 
ing of the missing barrel. After again 
examining the southern coast of the island as 
well as they could, even extending this 
search to some of the narrow strips of land 
at the bottom of the precipice, they still 
failed to find any -traces of the missing bar- 
rel, and therefore returned no little discour- 
aged to the cave-house. 

Since it appeared that there were no 
chances of finding the missing barrel, they 
began to make their headquarters as com- 
fortable as possible. As they now had a 


ON A FLOATING CAKE OF ICE 


221 


fairly considerable number of boards that 
had been brought with them from the float- 
ing packages, they built two rude benches 
for the inside of the cave, and two others, 
one of which they placed almost immedi- 
ately outside the cave, and the other near the 
top of Mt. Andree. On one or the other of 
the last two benches they spent some of their 
spare hours, after their hard work, looking 
with their glasses toward the southwest, 
from which direction they hoped sometime 
to see a balloon coming to rescue them, and 
at the same time, carefully observing the 
movements of the ocean currents, as far as 
they could by the direction of the floating 
cakes of ice as they were driven past the 
island by the wind. 

In this way many weeks passed with, how- 
ever, nothing of special note occurring. 

They had now been on the island for 
nearly one month. Toward the close of one 
day as they were sitting watching the cakes 


222 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

of ice float past them from the bench near 
the top of Mt. Andree, Eric exclaimed : 

^^Andree, I have made an important dis- 
covery.” 

Let’s have it, Eric,” was the reply. “I 
have great confidence in anything you are 
willing to call important.” 

Nearly all the cakes of ice that float past 
here when the wind is blowing from the 
south, are carried almost directly toward 
the island we think is Rransen Island. ’ ’ 

^^And then,” said Andree, seeing that 
there was something else on Eric’s mind, 
that he appeared to hesitate to talk about. 
^AVhat else, Eric?” 

^‘Why,” said Eric, slowly, as if still think- 
ing, ^4f we are fortunate enough to obtain 
our sextant, and know from our latitude 
that the distant land is really Kransen 
Island, I believe it would be wise to attempt 
to reach that island. You see,” he added, 
/^some of the largest cakes of ice frequently 


ON A FLOATING CAKE OF ICE 223 

come to rest for a short time at this 
point of the island. We might, therefore, 
hv hard work, place most, if not all, our 
goods on such a cake, which I believe would 
safely carry us to the island on our north- 
east.’’ 

“If you think it wise to take such a step,” 
remarked Andree, “I am ready to go with 
you.” 

“Thank you, Andree,” remarked Eric. 
“You may be sure, I will never make the at- 
tempt unless the chances appear to be much 
more in our favor than they are against us.” 

Again Eric fell into a train of thought, 
and remained silent for nearly half an hour. 
Knowing the peculiarity of his friend, An- 
dree refrained from interrupting his 
thoughts, and, therefore, remained silent 
also. 

At last Eric broke the silence, saying : 

“Andree, we have been making a great 
mistake all this time. There is something 


CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

that we have not done which if we do, I 
think will give us a reasonable chance for 
finding the barrel if it is on the island.’’ 

Let’s hear what that something is which 
we have failed to do. If it gives any prom- 
ise of our finding the missing barrel, I will 
do all I can to aid you.” 

^^Andree,” remarked his friend, ^^you 
know our cave has been formed by the waves 
of the ocean dissolving a part of the lime- 
stone cliff when it was at the level of the 
ocean long ago. I have noticed that several 
portions of the cliff to the east of us that 
are still reached by the waves, are limestone. 
It is probable, therefore, that some of these 
have been hollowed out into caves by the ac- 
tion of the waves. Now if such a large cave 
exists, it is possible that the missing barrel 
may have fioated into it. Let’s build a raft 
and make an examination of these parts of 
the coast.” 

That’s great, Eric. I think it very 


ON A FLOATING CAKE OF ICE 225 

likely we shall find a cave of this sort on 
, some portions of the cliff.’’ 

The boys were so excited at the idea that 
they at once set to work and succeeded in 
building a fairly large raft by nailing to- 
gether the boards that they had obtained 
from the basket of the balloon. This raft 
was finally launched in front of the cave- 
house, and, after an examination of several 
hours, oh a part of the precipice, which 
could not be seen from the plateau road, 
owing to the overhanging of the walls, they 
found a cavern of considerable size, the roof 
of which was at least a hundred feet in 
height. After some trouble they entered 
the cavern with their raft, but did not see 
anything in it. When, however, they 
lighted two candles they had brought with 
them, Eric suddenly shouted : 

“Look in the corner, Andree. There’s 
our missing barrel. ’ ’ 

“That’s our barrel all right,” was the re- 

15 


226 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

ply. ^‘Can you throw your lasso over it?’’ 
he inquired. 

‘‘That’s easy,” was the remark. And in 
a few moments the top of the barrel was se- 
curely held by the lasso. ” 

It required fully two hours to transport 
the barrel to the beach in front of their 
house-cave. At last, however, this was ac- 
complished, when they eagerly began to un- 
pack it. 

They were greatly pleased to find the bar- 
rel completely water-tight. Owing to the 
nature of its contents, they had been espec- 
ially careful in replacing the head and had 
also tightly tacked around it several layers 
of oil cloth, so that on opening the barrel 
they found that everything it contained was 
in excellent condition. 

Of course, their chronometers had run 
down, but setting them as near as they could 
to twelve o’clock by the sun, they climbed 
Mt. Andree and obtained an observation of 


ON A FLOATING CAKE OF ICE 


227 


the sun from which they calculated that the 
latitude of their island was not far from 88"" 
30' N. 

^^Andree,” said Eric, as soon as the cal- 
culations had been made, ^Hhere is no 
doubt that the distant land is Kransen 
Island. If, therefore, you will go with me 
we will try to reach it on a floating cake of 
ice.” 

‘^IIl go with you, Eric.” 

^‘Then we will leave Balloon Island on the 
first large cake of ice that stops for awhile 
against the southwestern coast. Let us col- 
lect all our goods on the beach near this 
place, so as to be ready to carry them to the 
ice cake we select for this purpose; for, 
of course, we will take all our supplies with 
us.' They are extremely valuable, and we 
will need them on Kransen Island, if we are 
fortunate enough to reach that place. ’ ’ 

Collecting their goods on the beach, they 
were favored by an unusually large cake 


228 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

of ice soon becoming firmly wedged against 
the southwestern shore. They worked rap- 
idly but before they had succeeded in loading 
all of their goods upon this cake, it gave a 
lurch and was free in deep water. Eric 
was on shore picking up the last package, 
when a despairing cry from Andree reached 
his ears. He glanced up quickly and was 
horrified to see several feet of black water 
separating him from his friend, and the 
sides of the ice cake too steep to be climbed. 
Eric realized instantly that he must perish 
if left alone, but the moment of indecision 
was precious. Gathering himself for the 
effort of his life, he sprang for the moving 
ice cake. For a breathless second it seem.ed 
that he must fall short. He reached the 
edge, however, but would have fallen back- 
ward had not Andree grasped his out- 
stretched arm and pulled him to a place of 
safety. 

As the ice cake slowly left the island, they 


He sprang for the moving ice cake 













4 ' 










'4k.' •:■•. ...^ ,4.-' ■ • V; 

=: f W ■■ .; ■■ ",'',v.v- : VJS 



• * :•!' - * *' .. V ■ -- j*lS • 


'-yyiirt 


A* '* ^-T/* it" =- ■ :V^ 

,<. ^ ’ V Jt'' j ^ ^ * * : 

[• ^ ' *• ^ *k# 

?> • If V- ' ** ^ • ♦1.' V- r ‘ 'j? ^ 

iL-f: ■ iL't’^i'. v''w'’w<-- - . ■ ^*‘'''‘ ‘ V ^P-^--" 




<■' 




ON A FLOATING CAKE OF ICE 


229 


could see floating from the flagstaff from the 
top of Mt. Andree, the United States flag 
that indicated that the island had been taken 
possession of in the name of the United 
States of America. 

It is not our intention to relate the many 
exciting experiences they had during this 
venturesome voyage. It required at least 
three days before they reached the coast of 
Kransen Island. At one time it seemed as 
if the cake of ice was moving in the wrong 
direction, but fortunately the freshening of 
the wind, together possibly with the action 
of ocean currents, they were carried to- 
ward the northeast and at last they reached 
what both recognized as Kransen Island, or 
the Land of the Korth Pole. 


CHAPTER XII 


ARRIVAL AT KRANSEN ISLAND, OR THE ISLAND 
OF THE NORTH POLE 

T he floating cake of ice carried the boys 
and their dogs to a point on the south- 
western coast of Kransen Island not far 
from the lava caves. It seemed that but few 
of the cakes of ice they had seen while on 
Balloon Island floating toward the north- 
east had reached Kransen Island. A 
greater part of them had probably passed 
the western coast of the island. 

^^Andree,” said Eric, as soon as the cake 
had touched the shore, ^ Bet’s give thanks to 
God for safely bringing us here.” 

The boys knelt on the shore, returning 
thanks to God for their having again es- 
caped the perils of the deep. 

230 


THE ISLAND OF THE NORTH POLE 231 

Fearing their floating ice raft might be 
carried away from the island, and swept up 
its western coast, they worked hard in order 
to carry all their goods to the shore, where 
they placed them above the reach of the 
waves. 

Not a single article had been lost of all 
they had placed on the ice cake at Balloon 
Island. 

As soon as all of their goods had been 
transferred from the ice cake to the shore, 
they hauled the raft up the beach so that it 
could not be carried away by the waves and 
then began carrying their goods to the cave. 

When they reached the lava caves they 
found everything as they had left it, thus 
showing that the place had not been visited 
during their absence. Of course, it was 
hardly to be expected that any people would 
have reached Kransen Island, but they knew 
that there was a danger that wandering 
bears, attracted by the scent of some of their 


232 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

food products, might have entered the place 
and destroyed their goods. 

^^As, of course, we will sleep here,’’ said 
Eric, ^^let us throw away the old bedding and 
collect a lot of fresh moss and leave it out on 
the rocks where it will dry, so that when we 
turn in to-night we will have fresh bed- 
ding. ’ ’ 

At the same time they dragged out their 
sleeping-bag, and turning it inside out 
placed it where it would be thoroughly dried 
and aired. 

The boys properly regarded the matches 
as among their most valuable possessions, 
so that whenever they moved from place to 
place they were careful to see that they were 
stored in as dry and as safe a place as possi- 
ble. Indeed, fearing that in some unex- 
pected way, the matches might catch fire, 
they adopted the precaution of selecting 
storage places at some little distance from 
each other. 


THE ISLAND OF THE NORTH POLE 233 

^‘Eric/’ said Andree, is now supper 
time. Wliat do you say to preparing a spec- 
ial supper in honor of our safe arrival^’’ 
Agreed,” said Eric, ‘‘I confess I am 
very hungry.” 

‘^That does not surprise me, Eric. Our 
last thirty-six hours on the ice raft were 
crowded with so many dangers and anxie- 
ties, that we were unable to prepare regular 
meals, and we scarcely had a bite to eat, and, 
as you know, since we have arrived here, we 
have been hard at work, carrying our goods 
to this place.” 

^‘We won’t attempt now to examine the 
stores left in the lava cave when we were 
here last. To-morrow will be time enough 
for that. We know we have plenty of good 
things in what we brought from Balloon 
Island,” said Eric. 

That supper was greatly enjoyed both by 
the boys and their dogs. This was not only 
by reason of the substantial food and dain- 


234 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

ties that were served; not only because the 
boys were very hungry, nor was it only be- 
cause the cave appeared so cozy and com- 
fortable, on account of the bright glow of 
the fire and the uniform warm temperature 
resulting from the hot springs, but it was 
because they were sensible of the great dan- 
gers through which they had safely passed. 

They sat for several hours after supper, 
talking about the many interesting things 
that had happened since^ their hurried de- 
parture from Balloon Station No. 2, and 
especially about their plans for living on the 
island. 

Finally, Andree said to Eric; 

‘‘What do you say about turning in now 
for the night?’’ 

“I have a better proposition than that,” 
was the reply. 

“Let’s hear it,” said Andree. 

“That we go to our supplies and get each 
of us a cake of the ivory soap we were 


THE ISLAND OF THE NORTH POLE 235 

SO rejoiced to find, and then see what a ju- 
dicious combination of ivory soap, warm 
water, and arm work will do towards 
washing us. I never remember being as 
dirty as I am now. I have thought many 
times since we discovered the ivory soap of 
the splendid time we could have in the hot 
spring taking a square wash.” 

^‘That’s a good amendment,” said An- 
dree. accept it with pleasure, providing 
you permit me to add something to it.” 

Let’s hear it.” 

‘^That we also thoroughly wash our under- 
clothes, and hang them up to dry. Since 
our sleeping-bag is dried and aired by this 
time, we can turn in as we come from the 
bath. We will not miss our clothes and will 
find them thoroughly dried by the time to 
put them on in the morning.” 

The boys were soon undressed and thor- 
oughly enjoyed the luxury of a warm bath 
with plenty of good soap. 


236 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

After washing themselves, and taking a 
plunge in the pool, they set to work at wash- 
ing their underclothes and such of their 
outer garments as could be safely subjected 
to the iu’ocess. 

Then, after a ten minutes’ swim in the 
pool, they dried themselves off, and creeping 
into their sleeping-bag, they were soon in a 
dreamless sleep. 

Getting up the next morning, they found 
that the weather had changed. A drizzling 
rain was falling, and a dense fog had settled 
down on everything. There was plenty to 
do, however, so that after breakfast they 
set to work breaking up the raft and em- 
ploying the lumber for the construction of 
benches at different parts of the cave as well 
as making a dining and working table. 

In the afternoon they began taking an 
account of the goods left in the cave 
by Kransen and his party, both from the 
balloon in which the boys had reached the 


THE ISLAND OF THE NORTH POLE 237 

island, as well as the supply of goods of the 
dirigible balloon. 

They were pleased to find that these com- 
prised a far greater abundance and variety 
of food products, as well as other important 
articles than those they had brought with 
them from Balloon Island. If, however, 
they were to spend the entire winter on the 
island it would be necessary to lay up a still 
greater supply. A plentiful food supply 
could be obtained on the island provided it 
was collected before the animals left on the 
approach of winter. 

They were especially pleased to find a 
good supply of loaded shells of the sizes 
intended for their rifies and revolvers, to- 
gether with a large quantity of powder and 
of percussion caps suitable for reloading 
empty shells. They would, therefore, not be 
obliged to limit themselves in shooting. 

Another carpenter’s tool box, containing 
a great variety of hardware, saws, ham- 


238 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

mers, shovels, pickaxes, mining hammers, 
was found together with different kinds of 
paints, oils and varnishes, and, last, hut by 
no means least, several gross of boxes of 
matches. 

After a careful inventory had been made 
of all their goods, Eric said : 

^^And now, Andree, the most important 
thing to do is to overhaul the stationary bal- 
loon left here, so that we can. get ready to 
inflate it, and get its wireless apparatus in 
position.” 

The balloon was unpacked and found, af- 
ter a careful examination, to be in an ap- 
parently good condition. 

‘^If there are any leaks in it,” said Eric, 
“we have plenty of rubber varnish in the 
supplies left in the lava cave, and can 
therefore stop them. And now,” he con- 
tinued, “let us go carefully over the wireless 
apparatus, and as soon as we are satisfied 
that it is in good condition we will inflate 


THE ISLAND OP THE NORTH POLE m 

the balloon and put the wireless apparatus 
in place.’’ 

The wireless apparatus was unpacked and 
found to be in excellent condition, but it was 
evident from Eric’s manner that something 
or other was wrong, since he repeatedly 
looked over the diiferent parts again and 
again, as though he had missed something 
important. 

‘‘What are you looking for?” inquired 
Andree. 

“I cannot find the Ruhmkorff coil or the 
voltaic battery.” 

‘ ‘ How is that ? Don ’t you remember put- 
ting them away with the other apparatus?” 

“I didn’t put them away,” said Eric. 
“ They were put away by Mr. Jannsen, the 
chief mechanician, who had charge of the 
dirigible balloon. He must have placed 
this apparatus among the other things, since 
he knew that without them the wireless ap- 
paratus would be useless ; for they are nec- 


240 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

essary to produce the electro-magnetic 
waves sent as impulses through space.” 

^‘Let us look carefully over all our goods. 
If they were left in the cave, we must, of 
course, find them in some place or other.” 

But a very thorough examination failed 
to disclose the apparatus for which they 
were looking. 

“Unless we can find these things,” said 
Eric, “we must give up all thoughts of com- 
munication with Camp Henderson. Sup- 
pose we go again over ever3d:hing. If we 
fail to find them this time, we must conclude 
they were not left in the cave. They could 
not have been taken out afterward.” 

Another examination failed to disclose 
either the voltaic cells or the Ruhmkorff coil. 

“Well,” remarked Eric, “we must give 
up all idea of sending wireless messages. 
The next best thing to do is to make up our 
minds to settle down on Kransen Island for 
the long winter night. As it is now the mid- 


THE ISLAND OF THE NORTH POLE 241 

die of August, we have a fairly long time to 
work in the sunlight.’’ 

‘^Of course,” said Andree. ^^It is possi- 
ble that a party may be sent here from 
Camp Henderson. You know it was the in- 
tention of uncle Lars to establish permanent 
headquarters here. Indeed, the materials 
for this purpose were to be sent by the ship 
we met in the sound during the time of our 
dangerous trip on the floating iceberg.” 

should certainly expect such a party,” 
said Eric, ^‘were it not that our sudden dis- 
appearance might keep them so long a time 
at Camp Henderson as to make it too late 
to send an expedition to Kransen Island, 
that could return to Camp Henderson before 
the setting in of the winter. It may, there- 
fore, be next summer before such a party 
reaches this point.” 

^H’m afraid that’s true,” remarked An- 
dree. 

There is much to do. In the flrst place 
16 


m CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

we must lay up a good supply of coal. 
Then we must take steps to increase our 
food supplies. Besides this, as we are not 
sure whether the temperature will remain 
warm in the cave during the winter, al- 
though I believe it will, we will take steps to 
close up a portion of the cave.” 

‘‘I hardly think the winter will affect the 
temperature of the hot springs enough to 
lower seriously the temperature of the air 
here, do you?” 

^‘No, I don%” was the reply. ^-^But we 
cannot afford to take any risks, so let’s get 
to work. ’ ’ 

‘‘Of course,” said Andree, “some of this 
work is more important than others. For 
example, we can get the coal at any time, but 
since the animals will be leaving on the ap- 
proach of cold weather, we had better first 
attend to the food supplies. ” 

“Do you remember, Andree,” said Eric, 
“that among the articles we found in the 


THE ISLAND OF THE NORTH POLE 243 

packages that floated here from the balloon 
were a number of Ashing lines and hooks. 
There are, of course, flsh in the ocean, for 
some of the birds here live almost wholly on 
fish. Suppose we go to-morrow and see if 
we can increase our food supplies in this 
wayT’ 

It was therefore agreed to go fishing early 
the next morning. 

‘‘Andree,’’ said Eric, as if he had dis- 
missed this matter from his mind, ^^can you 
sew?^^ 

‘‘Yes, fairly well. I won’t promise the 
work will he fine, but if you give me a good 
big needle and strong thread I will answer 
for its holding. Do you want me to make you 
a shirt ‘F” 

“It’s not as bad as that,” replied Eric, 
laughing, “but I wish you to help me make 
some open-mouthed sacks for placing on our 
dogs, so they can help us carry things. If 
we can make strong canvas bags and attach 


244 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

two of them to a strong piece of canvas 
with their mouths upwards, we could se- 
cure them to the backs of the dogs by but- 
toning the ends of the strips together. This 
would give us four bags, or two to each dog, 
and would greatly help us in carrying things 
from place to place.’’ 

Like all dress-making operations, there 
was considerable fitting, altering and trying 
on before the bags were found to fit the dogs. 
As far, however, as the dogs were concerned, 
instead of objecting to their new harness 
they appeared to regard the whole proceed- 
ing as a kind of game that their masters 
had gotten up for their special amusement. 

When the last trying on had been declared 
satisfactory, the bags were permanently 
fixed on the backs of the dogs by fastening- 
one end under their bellies and buttoning 
two ends of the supporting band together. 

urphere are a few hours before supper 
time,” said Eric, ‘Tet’s take a walk and see 


THE ISLAND OF THE NORTH POLE 245 


whether the American flag we planted on 
the flagstaff at the North Pole is still float- 
ing. Then, on onr return, we will stop at 
the coal mine and All the bags on the dogs 
with coal. In this way we will be able to 
collect gradually a large quantity of this 
necessary material.” 

They found the flagpole standing as they 
had left it, occupying a position correspond- 
ing exactly to the North Pole of the earth. 

The flag of the United States was still 
proudly floating in the breeze with its red 
and white stripes, and its white stars on an 
azure fleld. It is true that Andree was not 
American born, but when he first came to 
New York City, his uncle had him signify 
his intention of becoming a citizen of the 
United States as soon as this could be legally 
done. He therefore felt that the United 
States was his adopted country just as it was 
Eric’s native country. 

When the boys saw the glorious stars and 


246 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

stripes proudly floating on a pole planted in 
this hitherto inaccessible part of the earth, 
they felt a natural pride that the land had 
been taken possession of in the name of their 
country. It is true that the exposure to the 
wind and weather had bleached the colors, 
but they were still the crimson, the azure, 
and the white arranged, as the stars and 
stripes of a country that is able to protect 
its citizens in no matter what part of the 
world they may be. The flag was even 
torn in places by the violence of the wind, 
but it was still their country’s flag. It is 
not at all surprising therefore when they 
reached the flag that they - removed their 
caps and saluted this symbol of the United 
States of America. 

On their return they visited the coal mine, 
which it will be remembered was only about 
half a mile from the cave. As they had 
brought with them several pickaxes and 
shovels, they soon were able to All the four 


THE ISLAND OF THE NORTH POLE 247 

canvas bags on the backs of the dogs with 
good lignite coal. On their return to the 
cave, the bags were unloaded and the coal 
placed on the floor of one of the smaller 
caves nearest to the Are place. 

Their hands and faces were covered with 
coal dust, for one cannot mine coal, espec- 
ially in the primitive manner in which they 
were obliged to do it, and remain clean, but 
as Eric remarked : 

judicious application of ivory soap 
with the hot water of the spring will soon re- 
move this little difficulty,’’ which was 
promptly done. 

After supper they turned in, and were, 
soon in a deep sleep. 


CHAPTER XIII 

PREPARATIONS FOR WINTERING ON KRANSEN 
ISLAND 


EXT day they started across the island 



A 1 for the eastern coast, first placing the 
empty canvas bags on the backs of the dogs. 
Eric also brought his lasso, and, of course, 
both boys had their rifies and revolvers. 
They found almost countless numbers of 
birds and birds’ eggs. They thought it best, 
however, not to attempt to lay in any sup- 
ply of birds or eggs, until after fishing. So 
baiting the hooks on the dipsey-lines, they 
threw them out into the ocean and were soon 
pulling in several large fish, which they rec- 
ognized as a specie of fiat fish or flounder. 
When they had taken some ten of these they 
changed their fishing place and going to a 


248 


WINTERING ON KRANSEN ISLAND 249 

rocky point on the shore, where there was 
deep water, immediately off the rocks, they 
baited their hooks with pieces of the floun- 
ders, and throwing their lines into some fif- 
teen fathoms of water, they were both 
successful in pulling in a large codfish. 
They continued fishing until some six or 
eight large sized cod were taken. 

^^That will do for to-day,” replied Eric. 
^‘We wanted to find what chances we have 
for fish food during the winter. I think 
that question has been answered all right. 
Of course, it is improbable that all these fish 
remain in the waters during the winter. As 
soon, therefore, as we form some plan for 
keeping the fish we will go regularly to work 
as fishermen until we have caught a supply 
large enough to last through the coming 
winter.” 

^‘Eric,” replied Andree, ^^you know Nor- 
way is a great fishing place. When I lived 
in Sweden, I used to spend a part of my 


250 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

sunimer vacation on the coast of Norway 
near the fishing grounds. Here I had an 
opportunity, of seeing the different ways 
they cured the fish for keeping during the 
winter.^’ 

^ H ’m glad to hear that, ’ ’ said Eric. ‘ ‘ Tell 
me some of these methods.’’ 

^^The fish are opened and cleansed as soon 
as caught,” said Andree. ^^They are then 
rubbed with salt, when they are treated in 
three different Avays according to the man- 
ner in which it is intended to preserve them. 
They are either packed in casks or barrels 
in a strong solution of brine or salt; are 
again rubbed with salt and hung up in the 
air to dry ; or, after being rubbed with salt, 
they are hung in a place where they are ex- 
posed to the smoke of a wood fire.” 

‘‘Yes,” said Eric, “I remember that the 
last is employed for preparing cured or 
dried beef or smoked hams. During the 
burning of the Avood a chemical substance is 


WINTERING ON KRANSEN ISLAND 251 

produced that acts as a preservative for the 
meat. After they have been subjected to 
this smoking process they will keep in the air 
for a long time.’’ 

‘‘The substance you refer to is creosote,” 
remarked Andree. “It is produced during 
the burning of the wood by what is known 
as destructive distillation. It is easy to pro- 
duce creosote, provided the wood is per- 
mitted to smoulder and not to burn freely, 
so that smoke houses are necessary.” 

“Then,” replied his companion, “there 
should be no difficulty in preserving both 
fish and meat by starting a smoke-house in 
one of the small caves. The wood from the 
dwarf willows or cedars that grow plenti- 
fully on the island will answer for^this pur- 
pose. But, ’ ’ continued Eric, ‘ ‘ there is a dif- 
ficulty in employing any of these processes. 
They all require considerable salt, and we 
have only a small quantity of this substance 
with us. Too small, indeed, to permit us to 


252 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

use it in the large quantities that are neces- 
sary/^ 

‘‘Then,” replied his companion, “we will 
become manufacturers of salt.” 

“What do you mean?” inquired Eric, 
laughing. “Try to boil it down from ocean 
water ? I am afraid that will be a very slow 
process.” 

“That’s true,” said Andree, “but I think 
there will be no difficulty in arranging mat- 
ters so that the process can take care of it- 
self.” 

“How is that?” 

“Suppose we took one of the largest of 
our vessels, filled it with ocean water, and 
immersed it in the boiling spring in the cave, 
so that the water would touch only the out- 
side of the vessel. The water, of course, 
would all boil off, leaving the salt in the ves- 
sel. If, therefore, from time to time we 
placed fresh ocean water in the vessel, we 
could in this way obtain a certain quantity 


WINTERING ON KRANSEN ISLAND 253 

of salt. Of course, the amount would be 
small, but as I said before, it would require 
no watching and only replenishing with sea 
water from time to time.’’ 

''Andree,” said Eric, ''that’s a splendid 
idea. We’ll try it. But there’s another 
difficulty, however, that I fear will be harder 
to solve.” 

"What is that?” 

"To get the vessels for holding the ocean 
water.” 

"Yes, that is a difficulty, and one too that 
I don’t see just now how to solve. How- 
ever, let us think carefully over it, and, per- 
haps, we may see our way of getting around 
it, though at present I must say that it looks 
as though we were stumped.” 

"Provided we can get enough salt, there 
should be no difficulty about drying the fish 
either in the air or in the smoke of the 
smoke-house.” 

"Well,” replied Andree, "we have the 


254 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

fisli, and we had better open and clean 
them.’’ 

As soon as this was done they washed the 
fish in the water, so as to remove all blood, 
and then divided them between the two bags 
that had been placed on Hector. 

Snowflake appeared to be jealous that 
Hector should have had the honor of carry- 
ing the load of fish, especially, perhaps, be- 
cause the load contained something of which 
the dogs were fond, and of which they confi- 
dently expected a small quantity would be 
given them when they reached the cave and 
the boys had taken their load from them. 

They now proceeded to the southeast- 
ern coast of the island. As they were walk- 
ing along, Eric began laughing, and said 
to his companion : 

‘‘Look at that, Andree,” pointing to some- 
thing lying on the coast so that the waves 
would occasionally dash over it. “Have 
you ever seen it before?” 


WINTERING ON KRANSEN ISLAND 255 

Certainly,” remarked Andree, the 
basket of our balloon.” 

‘‘I wonder how it got here,” said Eric. 
‘‘I guess it has gone past the southeast cor- 
ner of Balloon Island and was carried here 
by the ocean currents.” 

‘^Yes, I remember,” said Andree, ^Hhat is 
the direction all the floating cakes of ice 
took, and especially the cake of ice that 
brought us here, only our cake reached the 
southern coast of the island on the west, 
while this has landed near the eastern 
coast.” 

^^'Of course,” replied Eric, ‘^but, then, 
these currents change with the wind. Be- 
sides, the basket, on account of its light ma- 
terial, must have floated with a fairly con- 
siderable portion out of the water. The 
wind might, therefore, have more readily 
changed its direction.” 

The boys drew the basket out of the water 
high up on the beach, where the waves could 


256 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

not reach it. An examination showed that 
the strips of willow, of which it largely con- 
sisted, were in a pliant condition, owing to 
long soaking in the water. 

^‘This is very interesting,’’ said Andree, 
^^but I don’t see how we can turn it to any 
use, unless, indeed, it may do for firewood. 
Or,” he said, laughing, ‘‘for toothpicks, of 
which I believe we brought only one with us 
when we reached Balloon island.” 

“You’re wrong there. The willow strips 
will enable me to do what I have been want- 
ing to do since yesterday.” 

“What’s that?” 

“To make an improvement on the dogs’ 
carrying-bags. I propose we try to weave 
them into baskets. I am afraid, however, 
that if you know no more about making bas- 
kets than I do, they will be very unsatis- 
factory, for I certainly never attempted to 
make such things before and haven’t the 
least idea how to go about it.” 


WINTERING ON KRANSEN ISLAND 26l 

‘‘In what shape did yon think of making 
these baskets, Eric, ’ ’ asked Andree. 

“Like the baskets sporting fishermen use. 
I mean baskets carried by straps thrown 
over the shoulders, and shaped to fit tightly 
against one side of the body. If we make 
two baskets for each dog to take the place 
of the canvas bags, and attach them to the 
bodies of the dogs in the same way as we at- 
tached the bags, they would be a great im- 
provement on them. What do you think of 
it r’ he inquired. 

“It’s a good idea, and I can help you 
perhaps more than you think. I was 
taught basket making at that same seaside 
resort in Norway near the fishing banks. 
Here I became acquainted with a poor fish- 
erman who had been so injured during a 
storm that he was obliged to support himself 
by basket-making. I used to go at times to 
read to him while he was at work. He 

taught me basket-making, and I am glad to 
17 


258 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 


say that I became fairly expert at the work. 
I would suggest, therefore, that we carefully 
unwrap the strips of willow from the basket 
and take them with us to the cave.’^ 

Andree,’’ said Eric, laughing, ‘^some- 
how or other, that word, cave, is not a very 
pleasant name for our headquarters. What 
do you say to giving it another name?’’ 

am willing. Have you any other name 
to propose?” 

‘‘What do you say to Kransen House?” 

“All right, from this time we will call it 
Kransen House ? ” 

They were several hours in unwinding the 
strips of willow from the basket of the bal- 
loon. Then tying them into two bundles the 
boys threw them over their shoulders and re- 
turned to Kransen House. 

“The willow strips are now wet and flex- 
ible,” said Andree. “As they will rapidly 
dry, suppose we go to work at once in shap- 
ing them like baskets. I think we can spare 


WINTERING ON KRANSEN ISLAND 259 


the rest of the day for this work, and as 
much of to-morrow as may be necessary.” 

‘‘Yes,” replied Eric, “and while we are 
working at it, we may as well fill one of our 
largest pots with ocean water, and place it 
in the boiling- springs so that the water may 
be boiled off.” 

Taking several of their pots to the ocean 
and filling them with water, they returned to 
Kransen House, and placed the largest in 
the boiling spring, where it soon started to 
boil. They selected for this purpose a por- 
tion of the spring where, although the ves- 
sel rested on the bottom of the basin, the 
water reached only to about three-fourths 
of the top of the vessel, so that while the 
water in the vessel soon commenced boiling, 
the water of the spring was not able to enter 
the vessel. 

. During that day and the next day while 
they were working at the willow baskets 
they occasionally poured more ocean water 


260 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

into the vessels as the water evaporated, so 
that by the next day they had a quantity of 
salt obtained in this way by the evaporation 
of ocean water. 

‘‘It’s slow work,” said Eric, “but as it 
doesn’t require much attention, on our part, 
we must be satisfied with this method of ob- 
taining salt until we can find a better way.” 

Under Andree’s instructions, and, mainly 
by his work, four baskets were completed for 
the dogs by the end of the next day. They 
were, indeed, very satisfactory, for Andree 
had mastered the art of basket making in a 
very thorough manner. 

When the baskets were properly attached 
to the bands of cloth and buttoned into posi- 
tion on the two dogs, so far from objecting 
to them they appeared to be very proud of 
their new gear. 

Of course, the boys were careful to remove 
the baskets or the bags from the dogs when 
they were not required for use. But 


WINTERING ON KRANSEN ISLAND 261 

whether it was because the dogs wished to 
aid their masters, or, as is more likely, be- 
cause they associated in their minds the bas- 
kets with pleasant walking excursions 
whenever the boys would pick up the baskets 
and say: 

‘^Come, Hector! Come, Snowflake! 
Come, get your baskets on,’’ instead of run- 
ning away and so shirking their work, they 
ran with eager barkings, and stood patiently 
until the baskets were fastened on them, and 
then running out of the cave, stood shaking 
their tails as if to say : 

^‘Come, we are ready now for a walk.” 

Nor was such conduct surprising, for 
doubtless, many of the boys who read this 
book, have dogs of their own, know how 
excited the animals become when they say 
to them : 

“Do you want to take a walk?” 

“Andree,” said Eric one day, “although 
we are very comfortable in Kransen House, 


262 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

yet I think it is too open. I don’t like the 
idea of leaving our front door wide open. 
It may be dangerous during the long winter 
night to sleep in our cave with an open 
door.” 

‘‘Do you fear that Dr. Willson and his 
dangerous allies, the Eskimos, may pay us a 
visit?” said Andree, laughing. 

“No, there is very little probability of 
that.” 

“Then what other visitors do you fear?” 

“Polar bears. I have no doubt that dur- 
ing winter this island is visited by these an- 
imals in search of food.” 

“I thought polar bears hibernated or went 
to sleep under the snow in winter,” said An- 
dree. “I certainly remember reading stor- 
ies of such things in books and even seeing a 
picture of the san:e. ’ ’ 

“I think that is principally the female 
bear with her cubs. However that may be, 
I know that many of the Arctic explorers 


WINTERING ON KRANSEN ISLAND 263 


speak of the visits they have received dur- 
ing the middle of winter from wandering 
bears, so that these animals were certainly 
not hibernating.” 

^‘Well, then,” said Andree, we ’ll make 
a door for Kransen House by nailing to- 
gether several thicloiesses of the boards we 
took from the balloon. We’ll then build 
around this door a strong stone wall 
by piling flat pieces of stone on top of one 
another. We can then turn in during the 
winter nights without wondering whether a 
bear will pay us a visit or not. It would, in- 
deed, be very stupid to be obliged to divide 
the night into watches so that only one of us 
could sleep while the other fellow watched.” 

The cave they had been occupying on 
Kransen Island had a wide opening, of per- 
haps, thirty feet in width and twenty feet in 
height. 

As they stood looking at the opening, Eric 
remarked : 


264 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

order to keep so kigli a wall from fall- 
ing, we will have to make it thick, or with a 
very broad base.” 

‘^Why not hold the stones together with 
mortar?” inquired Andree. 

Where will you get the mortar?” 

There ’s no trouble about that. I noticed 
yesterday, at a point near the coal mine, 
that there was a splendid deposit of lime- 
stone. Now, since we have plenty of coal, 
it will be easy to build a kiln and, start- 
ing a strong fire, fill it with limestone. As 
you know the heat of the fire will drive off 
the carbonic acid changing the limestone 
into quicklime.” 

“Andree,” said Eric, “there’s nothing 
like having a chemist along. So we will now 
become limeburners, as well as masons.” 

First making the door and supporting it 
in place they built around it a strong wall 
made of carefully selected stones thoroughly 
bound together by a mortar that they made 


WINTERING ON KRANSEN ISLAND 265 


by slacking the limestone, and mixing it with 
carefully dried sand. 

In order to provide for the ventilation of 
their cave, they left several openings near 
the top of the wall. These, together with a 
number of natural openings in the roof of 
the lava cave, through which the steam from 
the hot springs escaped, answered for addi- 
tional ventilation. 

While engaged in other work, they kept 
their salt manufactory at work. It was far 
from satisfactory, however, and, moreover, 
the salt obtained in this way, as is well 
known, is apt to be bitter, owing to the pres- 
ence of other saline substances that exist in 
ocean water. 

One day they had been following the 
tracks of some reindeer, and had already 
succeeded in shooting two of the animals. 
Wishing to see the place to which the tracks 
led, they found that it was what is known 
as a ^^salt lick.’’ 


266 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

As is well known, animals cannot exist 
without salt. Consequently they will travel 
for great distances in order to obtain this 
necessary article. Following the tracks 
they found they led to a small cave. 

‘^Unless I am much mistaken,’^ said Eric, 
these tracks lead to a salt ‘lick.’ ” 

And sure enough on entering the cave, 
they found a large deposit of beautiful crys- 
talized rock salt. 

. ‘ ‘Now, ’ ’ exclaimed Eric, ‘ ‘ we must become 
miners of salt rather than manufacturers of 
salt.” 

On returning to Kransen House, after set- 
ting aside some of the reindeer meat for 
cooking, and saving the skins for furs and 
rugs in winter, they cut the meat into suit- 
able sized pieces and rubbing it with salt, 
hung it up in the smoke-house, where in 
process of time it became thoroughly smoked 
and dried. 

There was yet to be solved the problem of 


WINTERING ON KRANSEN ISLAND 267 


providing vessels for holding the brine for 
the pickling of the fish, or the meats, or for 
pickling the birds’ eggs, so as to keep them 
fairly fresh during the winter. After try- 
ing several things Andree proposed one day, 
when he had discovered an excellent deposit 
of clay on the island, that they should try 
their hands at the manufacture of pottery. 

Andree had taken a course in a Manual 
Training School in Sweden. He was, there- 
fore, a fairly good workman, and was able, 
by the use of the carpenter’s tools, which 
they had, of fashioning what is called a pot- 
ter ’s wheel. This simple but ingenious de- 
vice consists of a horizontal disc of wood, so 
connected with a wheel, operated by a foot 
treadle, as to be caused to turn rapidly on a 
vertical axis. When tempered by thor- 
oughly moistening clay with water, a piece 
placed on this disc and rapidly revolved can 
easily be shaped into bowls, jars, or dishes. 

There were of course many failures before 


268 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

fairly satisfactorily-shaped vessels were ob- 
tained It was only after they bad carefully 
dried these vessels, and built a rude form 
of kiln in which they exposed them to a high 
temperature, that they were able to convert 
some of them into moderately strong earth- 
enware. 

But even then the vessels would leak, since 
the earthenware was porous. Andree, how- 
ever, who was well up on the chemistry of 
pottery, knew that if they threw a small 
quantity of common salt on the ware while 
in the kiln, it would become covered with a 
coating of glaze that would render it not only 
impervious to water, but would also greatly 
strengthen it. They, therefore, did this, 
and, after several trials, were able to obtain 
water-tight vessels. 

In this way they were able to put up for 
winter use large quantities of pickled fish, 
and pickled meats, as well as many hmidreds 
of dozens of eggs. 


WINTERING ON KRANSEN ISLAND 


They even prepared from the roe of some 
of the larger fishes a material called caviar, 
that is highly esteemed by those who like it. 

Of course, all these preparations had 
taken time, so that, when they were com- 
pleted, the long winter night had set in. The 
birds and most of the other animals had left 
Kransen Island for the warmer regions of 
the south, but not, however, before they had 
hanging from the roof of one of the cooler 
of the communicating caves they used for 
their storehouse, a good supply of smoked 
fish, smoked reindeer meat, smoked birds, 
and other similar food products. 

Before the beginning of the long winter 
night, one day while the boys were hunting 
reindeer, they succeeded in shooting a buck 
and a doe. They had not noticed that 
the doe was accompanied by a young fawn, 
for under these circumstances they never 
would have killed its mother. The poor lit- 
tle animal, that appeared to have difficulty 


270 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

in understanding why its dead mother lay 
on the ground and paid no attention to its 
caresses, was trying ineffectually to attract 
her attention. 

‘‘Let’s make a pet of the poor little 
thing,” said Eric. “There will be room 
in one of the caves, and we can try to get 
some of the kind of food on which it lives.” 
So approaching the animal Eric threw the 
noose of his lasso around its neck and led 
it to Kransen House. 

It was not long before the animal lost all 
fear of the boys and apparently became 
much attached to them. Hector and Snow-- 
flake at flrst were unable to understand the 
use of a deer for any other purpose than 
meat, but a few judicious lessons taught 
them. At last they all became a fairly 
happy family. The boys gave the fawn the 
name of Lightfoot, on account of its speed. 


CHAPTER XIV 


WINTER AT KRANSEN ISLAND 

T he length of the daylight was now rap- 
idly becoming shorter and shorter, 
the sun remaining above the horizon for 
only a few hours when the night set in. 
Long before this the birds began to show 
signs of uneasiness. 

‘‘What is the matter with them, Eric?’’ 
inquired Andree. 

“They are getting ready to return to the 
south. I suppose, the greatest anxiety is 
the fear their offspring will be unable to 
accompany them when they leave the is- 
land.” 

By this time the boys had secured large 
supplies of dried and smoked birds, as well 
as pickled eggs. They made it a rule not 
271 


cast away at the north pole 

to kill animals for the mere sake of kill- 
ing, but only when required for food. 
They were not watching the birds therefore, 
for the purpose of slaughter. Though cast 
away on an island so far from their friends, 
they did not fail to continue studying the 
habits of all kinds of animals, since in this 
way they could aid in commercially develop- 
ing the North Polar Region according to the 
wishes of Mr. Henderson. 

One day, when the uneasiness among the 
birds had been especially noticeable, one of 
the birds, evidently a leader of the flock, 
after a great cackling rose quickly in the air, 
and was followed almost immediately by 
such quantities of birds that the light of the 
sun was partially obscured. The flock, 
headed by leaders, flew rapidly toward the 
south, and soon disappeared below the hori- 
zon. 

“It will not be until next summer,” said 
Andree, “that wedl see them again.” 


WINTER 


replied Eric, ‘^and soon the rest 
of the birds will disappear in the same way. 
Think of the position we would be in then 
if, instead of laying up an abundance of 
food supplies, we had procured day by day 
only what was needed for our immediate 
use.’’ 

^^Yes,” replied Andree, “there is nothing 
like making hay while the sun shines.” 

“Or, perhaps, more correctly,” said his 
companion, laughing, “preparing dried and 
smoked birds while the birds are with us.” 

The disappearance of the birds continued 
at different periods until practically all had 
left them. They noticed it was the birds 
that first arrived were the first to leave. 
The movements toward the south being 
commenced apparently as soon as the young 
birds’ wings were sufficiently developed and 
fledged for the long journey. For exam- 
ple, the first to come and the first to go, 

were the little snow bimtings. Then the 
18 


274 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

snow geese, then the eider-ducks, the brent 
geese, and the various kinds of ducks, and 
finally the long-tailed and pin-tailed ducks. 

When almost all their feathered friends 
had left, the boys were able more thoroughly 
to appreciate how greatly their presence had 
given an air of cheerfulness to the place, 
their pleasant chirpings, together with their 
activity, completely driving away the sense 
of loneliness. 

The time during which the sun continued 
above the horizon during each rotation of 
the earth was now limited to a few minutes. 
Finally it disappeared below not to be seen 
again for very nearly six months. 

Knowing the great importance of contin- 
uing their physical exercise during the long 
winter night, and remembering the care 
Prof. Kransen had taken in providing an 
athletic track near their headquarters, at 
Camp IJenderson, the boys kept the snow 
partially off a level tract near Kransen 


WINTER 


275 


House, on which they took daily exercise in 
running, jumping, and wrestling. They 
made it a rule to spend several hours every 
day in the open air, except, of course, when 
cold winds were blowing from the north. 
Being careful of their diet, and of the good 
condition of their food, they were able to 
pass the winter without any attack of the 
scurvy, nor did they suffer much from frost- 
bites. They missed the outside illumina- 
tion that had been provided at Camp Hen- 
derson by arc and incandescent lamps. 
However, during bright moonlight nights, 
they were able to make excursions within 
two or three hours’ distance from Kransen 
House. 

One moonlight night, while at a distance 
of two hours from Kransen House, when 
they had stopped a moment to observe some 
peculiarity in the covering of snow that had 
fallen a few days before, Eric noticed that 
Hector and Snowflake were commencing to 


276 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

bury themselves in the snow by digging a 
hole, and, at the same time, stopping occa- 
sionally and looking at their masters and ut- 
tering a low whining. 

‘‘What’s the matter with the dogs, Eric?” 
inquired Andree. 

“They feel a heavy snow storm coming. 
I remember one day while at Camp Hender- 
son, Joe told me that when a dog begins to 
dig a hole in the snow with his paws and to 
show signs of anxiety, it is an almost sure 
sign of a heavy snow storm approaching. 
Since we have no reason for remaining out 
any longer, let’s hurry back to Kransen 
House. Had we better go home, doggies?” 
he asked, turning to the dogs. 

It was evident from the manner of the 
dogs that they were decidedly of that opin- 
ion, for they ran ahead of their masters to 
Kransen House, shaking their tails as if 
they thought the decision extremely wise. 

It proved that the dogs were excellent 


WINTER 


m 


weather prophets ; for, while they were still 
half a mile from Kransen House, the worst 
storm of the winter burst furiously upon 
them. The snow was so heavy that it was 
impossible to see the direction in which they 
were going. They could scarcely see two 
feet before them and were indeed in great 
danger of becoming lost. But they guarded 
their faces from the stinging blast as best 
they could and blindly followed the dogs, 
who seemed to feel the way instinctively. 
At last they all reached Kransen House 
thoroughly worn out from their hard fight 
with the elements. For three days they 
were obliged to remain indoors. One day, 
while they were taking Lightfoot a walk for 
exercise, she suddenly stopped and began 
smelling at a pile of snow. Shortly after- 
wards she thrust her muzzle below the sur- 
face of the snow, where she apparently 
detected the particular lichen or moss 
on which she fed; for, she began digging 


278 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

a hole in the snow with her forefeet 
until she had made an opening which uncov- 
ered the food for which she was seeking, and 
which she ate with an apparent relish. 

^‘See, Andree,’’ said Eric, ^‘that’s the 
kind of food Lightfoot needs, and since she 
can obtain it during the winter, we will let 
her wander around Kransen House to 
search for food and to return when she 
wishes. ’ ’ 

It may be added that from that time 
Lightfoot was free to leave or return to 
Kransen House whenever she wished to do 
so. She always came back when she had ob- 
tained her food, although at times she would 
be away for the greater part of the day. 
She soon learned how to ask to have the door 
opened, for she would gently strike the door 
with one of her front paws, calling the at- 
tention of the boys by a gentle cry. 

Having found among the stores left at the 
cave a number of paper pads and note books. 


WINTER 


279 


they spent many of their spare hours in pre- 
paring reports about the habits of the dif- 
ferent animals, as regards their breeding, 
food, as well as their enemies, and other 
dangers to which they were exposed. They 
felt confident that during the coming sum- 
mer Commander Kransen would either head 
or send a relief party to the island. Indeed, 
even if it was believed at Camp Henderson 
that the boys were dead, they felt sure that 
the chances were that they would remain in 
the northern regions in order to carry out 
the desires of Mr. Henderson as fully ex- 
pressed in Sealed Letter No. 2. 

As the winter went on and the days be- 
came colder, the boys began to crave fatty 
food. This surprised them, since, while liv- 
ing in New York City, both Eric and An- 
dree had a great dislike for fat, being in this 
respect not unlike the celebrated J ack 
Spratt of the old Mother Goose memory. 
They would, perhaps, have noticed their 


280 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

longing for fatty foods during their winter at 
Camp Henderson had not Prof. Kransen so 
intelligently arranged the diet that the 
amount of such foods prepared for them had 
been almost insensibly increased, so they 
had failed to notice the change in their diet. 
Here, however, where they prepared their 
own. food, and had therefore carefully re- 
frained from the free use of fat or oils, they 
soon began to observe their craving for fat, 
and at last came to the conclusion that it was 
necessary to increase the amount of foods of 
this character. 

“1 suppose,” said Eric, ^Hhis is the rea- 
son the Eskimos are so fond of blubber, 
and also accounts for the fondness of the 
Russians for a tallow candle occasionally as 
an especial luxury.” 

Knowing that careful records of the vari- 
ations of temperature, barometric pressure, 
direction of the wind, would be of consider- 
able value, they made regular observations 


WINTER 


281 


of these data three times a day, entering 
them in their note book ; for, since, unfortu- 
nately, there were no books among their 
goods, they might otherwise have found the 
time hang heavily on their hands. They 
made up, however, for this want of books, by 
telling each other stories, as well as talking 
about the different books that they had read 
and the facts contained therein. 

It may be mentioned here that they had 
several occasions to recognize the wisdom of 
having placed a door and stone wall at the 
entrance to Kransen House; for, they had 
several visits from hungry bears, that 
might otherwise have given them consider- 
able trouble, had the animals not found a 
closed door when the boys were in deep 
slumber. They shot some four of these ani- 
mals while endeavoring to break through 
the door in order to obtain food during the 
time when they were very hungry. 


CHAPTER XV 


RETURN OF SPRING AND SUMMER — ^FURTHER 
EXPLORATION OF KRANSEN ISLA'nD 

A t last the long winter night was over. 

The sun again appeared above the 
horizon, and, as the length of daylight rap- 
idly increased, the land began to take on the 
approach of spring. The snow gradually 
melted, and the icepack began to break up 
on all sides of the island, this breaking up 
beginning earliest on the southern coast. 
Indeed, they found that throughout the en- 
tire winter, portions of this coast remained 
unfrozen, evidently by reason of a warm 
ocean current that was directed against this 
part of the island. 

With the return of the sun the birds came 
again from the south, and began building 
282 


RETURN OF SPRING AND SUMMER 283 


tlieir nests. Among tlie first to appear was 
the little snow bunting. This bird especial- 
ly attracted the attention of the boys by 
reason of its ability to run rapidly over 
places covered with soft snow. 

One day while the boys were watching 
some of these birds, Andree said to Eric : 

^^See how rapidly that bird runs over the 
snow. It does not sink in the soft snow as 
one would suppose it would.’’ 

remember reading that the bird pos- 
sesses a peculiar shape of claws. We need 
something to eat, so I will shoot the bird. 
We can then examine it more closely,” said 
Eric. 

Eric shot one of the buntings, when an 
examination showed that it owed its ability 
to run rapidly over the snow to the forma- 
tion of its claws. The hind toe was pro- 
jected backwards for a fairly considerable 
distance. 

Another early bird visitor was the snowy 


284 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

owl. This bird has so dense a plumage that 
it might be able to withstand the most severe 
cold, although, like the other birds, it is, of 
course, obliged to return to the south on the 
approach of winter in order to obtain its 
food. 

Shortly after the arrival of the snow 
buntings and the owls, immense flocks of 
geese arrived, and then different species of 
ducks and divers. In due process of time, 
all their bird friends were back again. At 
the same time, multitudes of the Ashes ap- 
peared on which most of the birds depended 
for their food. 

The boys had the opportunity, on the ap- 
proach of warmer weather, of witnessing 
the arrival of immense schools of salmon. 

One day wdiile standing near the head- 
waters of a large river that emptied into the 
ocean near the central part of the southern 
coast they noticed how clear and cold were 
its waters, for the river evidently had its 


RETURN OF SPRING AND SUMMER 285 


source in the melting of several large ac- 
cumulations of ice and snow in a number of 
mountain valleys. 

‘^Eric/’ said Andree, ^^of what does this 
stream remind you?’’ 

^^Of the stream we examined in Grant 
Land near Balloon Station No. 2.” 

‘‘You remember we thought such a river 
would be a splendid place for the breeding 
of salmon and similar fish. I wonder if this 
stream is visited by schools of salmon.” 

“It’s very probable,” replied Eric. 
“This is about the time of year for salmon 
to spawn, so that if they come as far north 
as Kransen Island, we may find them in this 
river. Let us walk down the stream and 
see.” f 

After a walk down stream of ten miles, 
they saw such immense numbers of salmon 
in the river, in places where the water was 
shallow, that it appeared to be actually boil- 
ing or bubbling from the rapidity with 


286 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

which the fish swam from place to place 
while depositing their eggs on a gravelly 
part of the bed. 

^^Here is ‘another important food product 
for Mr. Henderson,” said Andree. Salmon 
is a most delicious fish, not only when fresh, 
but also when properly salted and smoked.” 

Suppose we order the dogs to bring us 
some fish out of the river so as to examine 
them.” 

The dogs, which had been trained to take 
fish from the water, needed no persuasion to 
do this, and soon laid a splendid specimen 
at the feet of their masters. Then they 
returned to the water and brought each an 
additional specimen, which they laid on the 
ground and began waggii\g their tails, as if 
to say: 

‘^May we eat these?” 

‘‘Certainly, doggies,” said the boys, “you 
may eat them.” 

The way the animals devoured the fish 


RETURN OF SPRING AND SUMMER 287 

showed that they thought them excellent 
food. 

^‘Andree/’ said Eric, let’s return as fast 
as possible to Kransen House, get one of the 
small drag nets we found among our stores, 
return here, and catch a lot of fish so as to 
increase our food supply.” 

^‘Do you think the fish will be here when 
we return?” 

‘‘Yes,” replied Eric, “the fish are swim- 
ming up stream. I think there will be great 
numbers of salmon in the river for several 
days.” 

They returned with a small drag net and 
had no difficulty in taking, in a short time, 
more fish than they could possibly use. In- 
deed, after selecting several hundred of the 
best and largest, they put the others back 
into the. river. After cleansing and wash- 
ing the fish they lightly packed as many as 
possible in the four baskets on the dogs 
and then stringing together as many of the 


m CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

remainder as they could carry, and covering 
the rest with flat stones, and returned to 
Kransen House. 

Some idea of the number of salmon 
they had caught may be seen from the fact 
that four trips to and from Kransen House 
were necessary to take them all home. 

It was, of course, necessary to take steps 
immediately for pickling and ^curing the 
flsh, which they determined should be done 
by smoking. They, therefore, went with 
their dogs to the salt cave and returning 
with four baskets of salt, began to rub the 
salt thoroughly into the fish. Then, hang- 
ing them up in the cave employed as a smoke 
house, they started a smouldering fire with 
the wood of the dwarf willow and cedar they 
had previously selected for this purpose. 
Closing the cave so as to prevent the free 
burning of the wood, they left the curing 
process to take care of itself. 

Knowing how toothsome baked or fried 


RETURN OF SPRING AND SUMMER 289 

salmon is when fresh, they had reserved sev- 
eral large fish for their supper and break- 
fast the next day. Toward the latter por- 
tion of their work of curing the fish, they 
placed one of the largest of the unsalted fish 
in a stone oven so that when their work was 
done the roast salmon was ready to be 
placed on the supper table. 

The reindeer came in due process of time 
in numbers to the island. Lightfoot was 
permitted to roam over the island and at 
first, always returned at night, but when the 
large herds of reindeer visited that portion 
of Kransen Island, she showed great signs 
of uneasiness, appearing to hesitate whether 
to come back to her human friends, or to re- 
main permanently with the herd of rein- 
deer. At last, however, the animal’s in- 
stinct prevailed, and taking a mate from the 
herd, she left them and never came back 
again. 

During the winter Snowfiake had a litter 

19 


290 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

of ten puppies. There was plenty of room 
and an abundance of food at Kransen 
House. Moreover, the Newfoundland dogs 
were of a fine breed, and would prove of 
great value as sledge dogs. The boys, there- 
fore, let all the puppies live, and many were 
the romps that they had with the young ani- 
mals, as well as with their parents. Hector 
and Snowfiake. 

The little puppies were splendid animats, 
and bore a ludicrous resemblance to their 
parents, save only in size. The boys gave 
names to them all, and while they were per- 
mitted to accompany them on short walks, 
yet, when more extended excursions were 
taken; the animals were either left with 
their mother, Snowfiake, or, in some cases, 
were shut up alone with plenty of food and 
water, in one of the caves which had been 
set aside for their accommodation. 

During the early summer the boys found 
plenty of time to make a series of extended 


RETURN OF SPRING AND SUMMER 231 


explorations of the island. As a result of 
this work they found many things, that 
were both interesting and valuable. We 
shall take time to describe a few of these. 

Kransen Island, like Balloon Island, was 
highest in the west, the land here consisting 
of a moderately elevated mountain range ex- 
tending along to the entire coast. The 
drainage of this part of the island consisted 
of three fairly large river systems, all of 
which flowed generally toward the east. 
Two of the largest uniting and emptying in- 
to the ocean on the south, near the middle 
of the island. The drainage of the eastern 
part of the island was by a number of 
smaller streams that rose in much less ele- 
vated lands extending along the eastern 
coast. 

These elevations sloped toward the west, 
and discharged their waters into the prin- 
cipal or largest river system. Kransen 
Island, thus partook of the continental type 


292 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

of elevations in having high borders and a 
low interior. 

One day, after leaving an abundant sup- 
ply of food and water with the puppies, they 
left Kransen House accompanied b}^ both 
dogs for a more thorough exploration of 
western mountains. 

It did not require a very extended ex- 
amination to show that these mountains, 
like the one near the base of which their 
cave had been located, were of volcanic ori- 
gin, being extinct volcanoes. This was seen 
by the presence of several lava streams in 
which they found springs of hot water, some 
of which were boiling. 

They had brought their aneroid barometer 
with them, and observing that the central 
of the three mountains was the highest, they 
succeeded, after a somewhat fatiguing climb, 
in reaching the top. The height of the sum- 
mit, as indicated by their aneroid barome- 
ter, was three thousand, four hundred and 
twenty feet. 


RETURN OF SPRING AND SUMMER 293 

It greatly surprised the boys to find com- 
paratively little snow on the summits of the 
mountains, although in the valleys on the 
east, there were extensive collections of ice 
and snow in which the three rivers before 
referred to had their sources. 

^^Does it not surprise you, Eric?” in- 
quired Andree, ^‘that the snow line on these 
mountains does not extend nearer to the 
sea?” 

would be surprised,” was the reply, ^4f 
they were not volcanic mountains. Other- 
wise, they would probably remain covered 
with ice and snow throughout the year, and 
would become a formidable source of ice- 
bergs.” 

From the summit of the mountain they 
had an excellent view of a large part of the 
island, as well as of the other two moun- 
tains. They also had a good view of the 
three principal river systems before re- 
ferred to. 


294 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

Suppose we name the rivers and moun- 
tain peaks/’ suggested Eric. 

“That’s a good idea,” replied Andree. 
“We will begin with the mountains near the 
southwestern coast. Since Kransen House 
is located on the side of the mountain we 
will call it Mt. Kransen. Now name the 
highest peak,” he continued. 

“We will call it Mt. Henderson,” said 
Eric. “And now what shall be the name 
of the third mountain peak'?” 

“Let’s call it Mt. Brown, after the name 
of our reporter.” 

“As for the rivers,” said Eric. “I think 
we might call them after the names of the 
mountains in which they rise.” 

This was agreed to, so that the rivers were 
named, the Kransen, the Henderson, and the 
Brown Rivers. 

Since the Henderson was the largest river 
they determined, after making a careful ex- 
amination of the crater, and a lava stream, 


RETURN OF SPRING AND SUMMER 295 

that had descended its eastern slope, to ex- 
amine one of the banks of the river toward 
its month. The crater of Mt. Henderson 
was carefully examined. Its rim had been 
broken on the eastern side, through which 
a great lava stream had flowed. This lava 
stream v/as much larger than the one they 
had examined on Hanscombe Island. They 
found on it a number of caves of the same 
character as those in the lava streams on 
Mt. Kransen, the caves, however, being 
much larger. 

They now began the exploration of the 
southern bank of Henderson River. This 
river flowed generally toward the east 
through a valley that had well marked 
northern and southern slopes. In many 
places, however, the river flowed between 
the precipitous ‘Walls, it had cut in its bed, 
so that in many places water ran several 
hundred feet below the general level of the 
country. 


296 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

Let’s go along the bed of the stream and 
examine these cuttings,” said Andree. 
‘‘They will give us a splendid chance to see 
the mineral deposits that the island pos- 
sesses.” 

“Andree,” said Eric, “while on the top 
of Mt. Henderson I noted that the Hender- 
son Eiver bends toward the south, so that 
in a part of its course it comes near the 
Kransen Eiver. Now, as you know, the de- 
posit of lignite is near the Kransen Eiver. 
Coal occurs in more or less flat or horizontal 
beds. It is possible our coal bed extends 
north to this part of the island. If so, we 
may reach a point where a cutting of the 
Henderson Eiver channel will uncover a 
part of the coal bed.” 

“That’s capital,” said Andree, in an ad- 
miring tone. “I think then the chances are 
good for such a discovery.” 

A search through the cut at last dis- 
covered a large body of lignite. As far as 


RETURN OF SPRING AND SUMMER 297 

they could judge, it was of the same variety 
as that found on Kransen Kiver, and was, 
therefore, probably an extension of that 
bed. 

“Let us now see how far the coal bed ex- 
tends toward the east,’’ said Eric. 

They were agreeably surprised to find it 
cropping out at various places for three 
miles along the stream. 

“The coal deposit is very large. Eric, 
this is a great discovery,” said Andree. 

About half a mile farther down the stream 
they found a splendid deposit of iron ore, 
consisting of angular fragments resembling 
those of the famous deposits in the Lake 
Superior regions. 

“Do you know the name of this ore, An- 
dree?” asked Eric. 

“Yes, it is an oxide of iron known as hem- 
atite. If it does not contain much sulphur 
or phosphorus, it will prove an excellent 
ore for the production of cast iron or steel. 


298 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

I noticed several deposits of limestone in 
the immediate neighborhood of the coal and 
iron, so that we have close together all the 
minerals necessary for the production of 
cast iron or steel.” 

^‘Yes, I know,” said Eric. ^‘In order to 
obtain metallic iron from iron ore, a fur- 
nace, called a blast furnace, is filled with 
alternate layers of coal, iron ore and lime- 
stone. In this way a high temperature, is 
obtained. The fire is never permitted to go 
out while the furnace is in blast, but is 
often kept burning for several years. Will 
lignite make good iron, Andree,” inquired 
Eric?” 

‘‘Perhaps not the best, but with care, very 
good iron can be produced.” 

A further exploration of Henderson River 
resulted in the discovery several miles 
nearer its mouth of a wonderful deposit of 
fossil trees. 

“What are trees doing in this part of the 


RETURN OF SPRING AND SUMMER 299 

world where no trees can grow ? ’ ’ exclaimed 
Eric. 

‘‘The trees grew here, perhaps, several 
hundreds of thousands of years ago, when 
the climate was much warmer than now. 
These trees, as you see, are fossil trees. I 
remember reading in a book at Camp Hen- 
derson, that, at about latitude 70"" N. in 
Greenland, a large forest of fossil trees has 
been found on the side of a mountain now 
surrounded by glaciers. A similar forest 
has been found on the island of Spitzbergen 
at about lat. 79° N. I can see no reason 
why even at this still higher northern lat- 
itude, in Kransen Island, a higher tem- 
perature should not have once existed.’’ 

“That’s true,” said Eric, “for the vast 
deposits of lignite coal we have just seen 
probably required a still higher temperature 
for the growth of the vegetation from which 
the coal was derived.” 

The boys examined with great interest the 


300 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

fossil trees, which they could readily recog- 
nize as various kinds of firs, oaks, elms, 
magnolias, and laurels. Some of these trees 
they knew are now found growing in cli- 
mates corresponding only to the warmer por- 
tions of France. Not only were the trunks 
of these trees preserved, but even their 
leaves, bark, seed-cones, etc. 

‘‘Can any explanation be given of higher 
temperatures in these parts of the world in 
the geological past?’’ inquired Eric. 

“Yes,” replied Andree, “various explan- 
ations have been suggested. As you know, 
parts of the earth’s surface are undergoing 
constant but gradual changes of level. In 
some places the land is gradually sinking 
■until it is finally covered by the ocean; 
while in other places, portions of the ocean’s 
bed are being slowly raised high in the air.” 

“Now it has been suggested that should 
certain changes of level be produced in parts 
of the North Atlantic and the North Pa- 


RETURN OF SPRING AND SUMMER 301 


cific Oceans, that the Arctic regions of North 
America would have a much higher temper- 
ature than at present. For example, if 
parts of the bed of the North Atlantic west 
of France and Spain, should be raised above 
the level of the ocean, the Gulf Stream, 
which now flows too far east of the coast of 
the United States to affect greatly its tem- 
perature, instead of bathing as it now does 
with its warm waters the western coast of 
France, Spain, and England, and Norway, 
would probably flow up the eastern coast of 
North America, and along the western coast 
of Greenland, thus bathing the entire Arctic 
zone with its warm waters. 

What a splendid theory,’’ said Eric. 
‘^Such a thing would certainly make these 
parts of the world much warmer. Why, 
Andree,” he continued, ^Hhat part of the 
North Atlantic Ocean west of France and 
Spain, is where the fabled continent of At- 
lantis is said to have been situated. How 


302 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

odd this is, I wonder if there is any truth in 
a prehistoric Atlantic.” 

^‘It is quite possible,” remarked Andree. 

^‘Have any other explanations been 
made"?” 

^^Yes,” said Andree,- ^4t has been pointed 
out that if the region now occupied by Alas- 
ka and its outlying islands, which, by the 
way, is a region of marked volcanic activity, 
should have been sunk below the level of the 
sea, the Japan Current, a warm current that 
flows northeast off the coast of Asia, and 
then bending to the east and the south, flows 
along the western coast of North America, 
would then proceed toward the north, -bath- 
ing any land that may have existed in the 
Arctic Ocean with its warm waters.” 

The boys made many interesting discov- 
eries, during the subsequent exploration of 
other parts of Kransen Island. It would re- 
quire, however, another volume to describe 
all these different things, and, since there 


RETURN OF SPRING AND SUMMER 303 


remains so much to be told about the subse- 
quent adventures of the boys, we will make 
no attempt further to describe their explor- 
ations. 


CHAPTER XVI 


AN IMPOKTANT DISCOVERY 

W HILE much of the early spring and 
summer in the Polar regions of 
North America is characterized by pleasant 
weather, yet during these portions of the 
year there are very apt to occur heavy rains 
and dense fogs. The sky is then covered 
with thick clouds, and it becomes so dark 
that it is difficult to distinguish objects ex- 
cept at a distance of but a few feet. 

It happened when the boys returned to 
Kransen House from the exploration of 
Henderson River, that the next few days 
were exceedingly unpleasant, owing to the 
presence of a drizzling rain accompanied by 
a dense fog. Since it was impossible to go 
comfortably any distance outside of Kran- 
304 


AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY 


305 


sen House, they remained indoors. This, 
however, did not prove unpleasant. They 
had much to do ; for, they had brought with 
them specimens of the coal, limestone, and 
iron ore, as well as pieces of the wood, bark, 
leaves, and other parts of the trees they had 
discovered in the fossil forest. Lighting 
their lamps they made notes of these speci- 
mens, which they labeled and packed away. 

When they had about completed this work 
Andree said: 

^‘Eric, let’s prepare a large map of the 
island, marking on it the names we have 
given to the parts we saw from the top of 
Mt. Henderson. I made a sketch in my note 
book of these parts, and I think I saw you 
doing the same thing. Are there any large 
sheets of paper among our stores?” 

remember seeing a bundle of large 
sized sheets lying in the part of the lava c^e 
where the parts of the wireless telegraphic 

apparatus were stored. Come and hold the 
20 


306 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

lamp for me and I will get you a sheet of 
paper.” 

When Eric went to the place where he re- 
membered seeing the package, he was as- 
tonished to find it missing. Turning to 
Andree, he said: 

^^What an uncanny part of the cave this 
is?” 

^^Why do you say that?” 

“Because the paper has disappeared just 
as the voltaic battery and the Ruhmkorff coil 
of the wireless telegraphic apparatus disap- 
peared.” 

“But possibly you only think you saw the 
package of paper.” 

“No,” replied Eric, “there is not the 
shadow of a doubt in my mind about having 
seen them. They were lying in the place 
where the wireless apparatus had been 
placed.” 

“Look again,” said Andree, “if you saw 
them there they must be there now.” 


AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY 307 

‘^Unless,” said Eric, laughing, ^Hhey had 
been spirited away by the ghosts of some of 
the many Arctic explorers, who have lost 
their lives in the far north in their vain en- 
deavor to reach the North Pole. Hold the 
lamp higher, please. It is so dark in this 
corner that I cannot see distinctly as jou 
are now holding the light. 

Andree held the lamp as requested when 
Eric suddenly exclaimed : 

^^Good gracious, Andree, the bottom of 
the cave has fallen in at this place, and here 
is the package of paper that I was looking 
for with the top of the package only a few 
inches below the level of the floor.’’ 

wonder what caused it to fall in?” in- 
quired Andree. 

don’t know,” was the reply, ‘^but I 
will look.” 

Carefully examining the place, Eric dis- 
covered that this part of the cave was 
formed of a thin crust of lava that had fal- 


308 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

leii in from tlie weight of what had been 
placed on it. 

^‘Eric/’ suggested Andree, ^‘this may ac- 
count for the disappearance of the voltaic 
battery and the Ruhmkorff coil, which you 
say you believe were stored in this part of 
the cave.’’ 

^‘Splendid, Andree,” said Eric, ‘‘you’re 
becoming a great observer. I think your 
explanation is correct. Indeed, I feel al- 
most sure that if we look carefully in this 
hole we shall find the missing articles. 
Hold the light over the hole, please.” 

As soon as this was done, Eric examined 
the hole and soon called out in an excited 
tone : 

“Look, Andree, here are the missing ar- 
ticles,” and sure enough at the bottom of a 
hole, which was about one and a half feet 
deep, they found the long-sought Ruhm- 
korff coil and voltaic batteries, that formed 
a part of the wireless apparatus of the bal- 


AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY 


309 


loon which had been stored in the cave. 
Carefully removing the articles they found, 
so far as they could see, that they were in 
good condition. Since the opening of the 
hole was comparatively small, they were 
puzzled to understand how the package 
could have got into the hole. It also sur- 
prised them that the presence of the hole 
had not been detected on the several occa- 
sions when they made a careful examination 
for these essential parts of the wireless ap- 
paratus. At last, however, Eric puzzled it 
out. The articles had evidently slid into the 
hole sidewise, and had been so followed by 
the package of paper, possibly placed edge- 
wise against the apparatus, that the package 
had fallen so as completely to span the open- 
ing, and had thus gradually sunk into the 
opening to only a short distance below the 
level of the floor of the cave. 

‘^You see,’’ remarked Eric, did see a 
package of paper.” 


310 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

Let’s take the apparatus into the larger 
room and examine it,” said Andree. 
the parts are in good condition, before long 
we will be able to let our friends at Camp 
Henderson know where we are.” 

Everything being found right they de- 
termined to take immediate steps to inflate 
the balloon and place the wireless apparatus 
on it. This, however, proved to be a long, 
tedious task* for they found that the rubber 
varnish on its surface had become cracked 
in places, so that there were several places 
where the hydrogen gas could escape. 

They thoroughly repaired these places by 
sewing silk cloth over them, and then Ailing 
the balloon with hydrogen gas, they gave its 
outer surface a thorough coating of rubber 
varnish, a large quantity of which they had 
found among the stores left in the cave on 
Kransen Island. 

The method employed for the rapid evo- 
lution of hydrogen gas consisted in the em- 


AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY Ml 

ployment of calcium silicide, an electric fur- 
nace product possessing the valuable prop- 
erty of liberating large quantities of pure 
hydrogen gas when simply immersed in 
water. 

The charging apparatus consisted of a 
simple device in which a vessel of water was 
so provided with a large funnel that the hy- 
drogen gas liberated when the chemical was 
thrown into the water passed through the 
funnel and entered the balloon. 

During its filling, the balloon was placed 
outside the cave, being firmly attached to 
the earth by a strong hempen cable. When 
the filling was completed, and the basket 
packed with stores and supplies as usual, the 
coating of rubber varnish before referred to 
was placed on the balloon. They deter- 
mined, however, to give the balloon a sec- 
ond coating, early next morning, letting it 
dry in the meantime. 

Seeing that everything was safe, and that 


812 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

there was no fire in the neighborhood of the 
balloon, they went into the cave, and, after 
a swim in the pool, turned in for the night. 

About midnight they were awakened by 
the barking of Hector and Snowfiake, as 
well as by the animals placing their paws 
gently on their masters’ faces. Looking up 
they were surprised to see a bright flame 
outside the cave. Eunning to the door and 
looking towards the balloon, they saw that it 
was in flames and about half consumed. 
They endeavored to extinguish the fire, but 
without success, so that before long the en- 
tire balloon disappeared in smoke. They 
succeeded, however, in saving the wireless 
apparatus and the stores they had placed in 
the basket, as well as preventing the fire 
from spreading to the basket itself. 

^‘This is a great disaster,” exclaimed 
Andree. 

‘‘Yes, almost a disaster,” was the reply. 

“Why not a disaster?” exclaimed An- 


AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY 


313 


dree. it not prevent us from commu- 

nicating with Camp Henderson by wire- 
less'?’^ 

“Not necessarily,” was the reply. If we 
can devise some arrangement for the sup- 
port of the antennse, or transmitting and re- 
ceiving wires, we can set up the wireless ap- 
paratus on the top of Mt. Henderson. 
What could have started the fire, Andree'?” 
continued Eric. “You are a chemist, can 
you explain it'?” 

“I am not certain,” was the reply, “it is 
possibly due to the liberation of some spon- 
taneously infiammable gas ; or, it might have 
been a tiny electrical spark which ignited 
the hydrogen gas.” 

“Although very discouraging,” said Eric, 
“I see no reason why we cannot get the wire- 
less apparatus working from the top of Mt. 
Henderson.” 

“What are the most important things for 
this purpose?” inquired Andree. 


314 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

Something to which to attach the an- 
tennas, and an enclosed space for the storing 
of the apparatus, since, of course, we can- 
not take the risk of having this apparatus 
ruined by a rain storm or a high wind.” 

“As far as the masthead is concerned,” 
said Andree, “can we not nail together all 
our boards so as to form a frame work suf- 
ficiently high to support the antennae?” 

“Yes, I think that can be done,” said 
Eric. “If we can do nothing better for a 
house for the apparatus, let’s build a stone 
house on the top of Mt. Henderson, and 
place the masthead on the top of it. As this 
house will be fairly high, we will be obliged 
to strengthen its walls with mortar.” 

“Then,” said Andree, “we’ll begin by 
burning a large quantity of limestone for 
the mortar. There will be no trouble about 
the building material. There are plenty of 
fiat stones on the top of the mountain.” 


AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY 


315 


The burning of the limestone and the 
transportation of the burnt lime to the top 
of Mt. Henderson was necessarily slow 
work, although it was hastened as much as 
possible. The erection of the telegraph 
house was still harder work, but at last they 
had the four walls completed. 

The scarcity of lumber made it practical- 
ly impossible for them to build a center for 
an arch that could be used for the wooden 
trestle work that was to support the anten- 
nae. At last, however, by building high- 
gabled ends to two opposite walls, and con- 
necting these by a beam, formed by nailing 
the longest pieces of wood together, they ob- 
tained a support for the wooden trestle work 
forming the mast head. 

This work proceeded slowly, owing to the 
difficulty ^in raising the stones, as well as in 
obtaining a temporary scaffolding. At last, 
however, the building was completed. All 
that, was required to be done was to get the 


316 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

aijparatus in working order and restore it 
to the house. 

^‘Eric,’’ inquired Andree, when the stone 
work was completed, ^‘how long do you 
think it will be before we can get into com- 
munication with Camp Henderson?’’ 

^‘Unless something unexpected happens, 
we will be ready to send our first message 
sometime to-morrow afternoon.” 


CHAPTER XVII 


CAMP HENDERSON 

I T is now necessary again to take up tlie 
thread of our story at Camp Henderson. 
The general belief that the boys had been 
murdered and their bodies thrown into the 
deep water of the ocean near the ruins of the 
balloon house, created profound sorrow at 
Camp Henderson ; for, the boys had become 
great favorites, not only with the officers, 
but also with the crew. 

Although both Commander Kransen and 
Dr. Hanscombe recognized the probability 
that the boys were dead, yet neither was 
willing to give up the search until either the 
boys or their bodies had been found. They 
had on several occasions endeavored to find 
their bodies by grappling in the ocean where 
317 


318 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

it had been alleged they were thrown. Of 
course all such attempts were unsuccessful. 
It was after the last of these attempts that 
Dr. Hanscomhe said to Prof. Kransen : 

‘‘Kransen, you may think me foolish, but 
our failure to find the bodies of the boys 
makes me all the more unwilling to acknowl- 
edge their death. I cannot feel but that Dr. 
Willson has made up a lie in order to pre- 
vent his Eskimo friends from laughing at 
him. If the boys had been actually mur- 
dered and their bodies throvm into the ocean, 
I do not see how we could have failed to find 
them or at least parts of their remains. 
There are no strong currents in this part 
of the ocean to carry their bodies away, and, 
so far as I know, there are no man-eating 
animals here large enough to make off with 
their bones as well as their fiesh.” 

‘‘I am glad to hear you speak that way, 
Hanscomhe, ’ ’ said Kransen. ‘ ‘ I am exactly 
of your way of thinking.’’ 


CAMP HENDERSON 


m 


^‘Aiid you are without hope /of finding 
them alive'?” 

‘‘I am not,” was the reply. “Let me ex- 
plain. Suppose we assume that Willson 
had told a lie about the matter, then we will 
have to account for the disappearance of the 
two boys, their two Newfoundland dogs and 
the balloon.” 

“That’s logical,” said Hanscombe eag- 
erly. “Please take up the matter and dis- 
cuss it thoroughly. First, as regards the 
balloon.” 

“Well, as regards the balloon, it either 
was burned as alleged, or it left Balloon Sta- 
tion No. 2 uninjured, with the exception of 
the loss of the Ruhmkorff coil and the 
voltaic batteries belonging to its wireless 
apparatus. Had the balloon been burned, it 
is improbable that its entire basket would 
have been destroyed, nor, indeed, all of the 
goods that I directed to be stored in it. If 
it had been set on fire before it was freed 


320 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

from its cable, it could not possibly have re- 
mained long in the air, so that its basket, 
and at least a part of its stores, would float 
and be found somewhere on the coast.” 

That’s true,” replied Hanscombe. 

“As you Imow,” continued Kransen, “a 
most careful search has been made by the 
use of the gasoline motor boats that we have 
brought here for the purpose of dragging 
the grappling irons, both along the coast it- 
self, in the immediate neighborhood of Bal- 
loon Station No. 2, as well as for several 
miles up and down the Bay.” 

“Might not the anchor have carried the 
basket down with it, when supposing the 
balloon to have been burned, the basket fell 
to the sea?” 

“I have thought of that,” was the reply. 
“But I do not believe the anchor was heavy 
enough to drag the basket after it, since as 
you know the basket was very light. Now, 
as we have utterly failed to find either the 


CAMP HENDERSOI^ 


basket or any of the goods, I think it is safe 
to infer that the balloon was not burned.” 

see,” said Hanscombe. ‘‘If it was not 
burned, we have thus proved that this part 
of the story is false, and we are, therefore, 
justified in believing the entire story false. 
There then remains to consider what has 
become of the boys and their dogs.” 

“Exactly,” replied Kransen, “and I am 
disposed to think that this is what J oe had 
in his mind when he asked permission to 
search the surrounding country for the 
Newfoundland dogs.” 

“And also,” said Hanscombe, “your rea- 
son for . thoroughly searching the country 
for many miles around with other large par- 
ties.” 

“It was that,” said Kransen, “besides my 
desire to see the people at the encampment 
that Ma-kip-su and Kes-su told us about, 
so as to recover the boys, if living, or pun- 
ish their captors, if dead.” 

21 


322 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

‘‘We conclude, therefore,’’ said Hans- 
combe, “that the balloon was not burned, 
that the boys were not murdered, and if 
neither they nor their dogs left in the bal- 
loon, but were carried away by the Eski- 
mos, we should be able to find some traces 
of them.” 

“That ’s correct, ’ ’ replied Kr ansen . 
“Let us then go to Camp Henderson and 
wait until Joe returns. He may have some 
news for us.” 

It was not until three weeks after he had 
left, that Joe returned with his party. As 
soon as he returned, he went with an inter- 
preter to report to Kransen, although as the 
reader knows, he had not much to tell. 

“Have you found any traces of the dogs, 
Joe?” inquired Kransen. 

“Joe no find dogs,” he said by the aid of 
the interpreter. “Joe visit all the encamp- 
ments around here, but find no boys and no 
dogs.” 


CAMP HENDERSON 


323 


‘‘Are you tired looking, Joel” said Kran- 
sen. ‘ ‘ Do you want to give it up ? ” 

“No,” was the earnest reply. “Joe 
wants to go to other encampments. One, 
two, many hundreds of miles from here.” 

“Ask him,” said Kransen to the inter- 
preter, “why he wants to do this. Ask him 
if he does not believe the dogs have been 
killed with the boys, as the Eskimos have 
said they did.” 

This question evidently greatly excited 
Joe, for he began to talk in an eager tone 
and at great length. When he had finished 
speaking, Kransen said to the interpreter : 

“What does he say? Does he appear to 
have any good reason for continuing his 
search for the dogs?” 

“He says,” explained the interpreter, 
“that the Newfoundland dogs are very val- 
uable animals, and would, therefore, have 
been highly prized by the Eskimos. He 
does not think they would kill them, but 


324 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

would try to take them with them. He, 
therefore, wishes to continue the search, 
since he thinks that if he could find the dogs 
they would help us in finding the boys or 
their bodies.” 

When the interpreter had finished speak- 
ing, Joe said something to him in Eskimo 
and the interpreter turning to Kransen 
said : 

‘^Joe wants to know if he can ask you 
some questions?” 

“Certainly,” said Kransen. “I will be 
only too glad to answer them.” 

Joe mshed especially to know whether the 
ocean had been thoroughly dragged and 
whether the bodies of the boys had been 
found. On being informed that no trace 
of them had been discovered, and that, 
moreover, neither the basket of the balloon, 
nor any of the articles it contained, except 
the Euhmkorff coil and the voltaic batteries, 
had been found; he then inquired whether 


CAMP HENDERSON 


325 


this search had been thorough, wishing to 
know what kind of grappling irons had been 
used. As soon as he heard this, J oe became 
excited and began again talking eagerly to 
the interpreter. 

‘^What is it?” inquired Kransen. 

‘^Joe declares,” said the interpreter, 
^Hhat he now feels sure the Eskimos lied. 
He believes the boys have escaped in the 
balloon and have taken their dogs with 
them. He says that when an Eskimo is 
drowned near the shore, the body is nearly 
always thrown ashore by the waves. He is 
especially pleased to learn that neither the 
basket of the balloon nor any of its goods 
have been washed ashore. He asks that he 
again be permitted to leave the camp and 
continue his search for the boys or their 
dogs, since, as he says, it may be that the 
balloon was simply cut loose from its cable 
and the boys after all have been carried 
away by the Eskimos.” 


326 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

When Kransen and Hanscombe heard 
what conclusions Joe had reached, Kransen 
said: 

^‘Joe is a bright fellow. I will send out 
a party with him, so that he can visit dis- 
tant encampments. Ask him,’’ he said, 
turning to the interpreter, ‘^whether he 
wishes this party to be large or small.” 

J oe grinned as soon as the interpreter ex- 
plained the question to him. 

Small,” he said, ^^go quicker. Eskimos 
not suspect. Take no white men along. 
Boy Kes'-su wants to go, and I will take 
A-wah'-tok, good man. We will go to all 
encampments and find out if they heard 
anything about dogs and boys.” 

Joe was therefore sent out with the two 
other Eskimos. 

As he was about to leave, J oe said through 
the interpreter to Kransen: 

“Joe going on a long trip. May not come 
back until next spring.” 


CAMP HENDERSON 


327 


It is hardly necessary to say that a wire- 
less despatch had been sent to Hanscombe 
Island explaining the disappearance of Dr. 
Willson and his Eskimos, the disappear- 
ance of the hoys, and what was feared con- 
cerning their fate, directing them to keep 
close watch on the sky to see if any balloon 
passed them. 

In a short time the following despatch was 
received from Dr. Stone : 

' “Camp Henderson. Awful news received with 
great sorrow. No signs of balloon seen here. Will 
have constant observations taken of the sky. Fre- 
quent fogs, however, might permit balloon to pass 
unobserved. ’ ’ 

Subsequent wireless despatches from 
Hanscombe Island informed them that the 
missing balloon had not been seen. That, 
moreover, a thorough examination was 
made of all parts of the coast of Hanscombe 
Island in order to see if any traces of the 
balloon, its basket or its contents could be 


328 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

found, and that thus far without any re- 
sult. 

Of course, Kransen’s efforts greatly de- 
layed the carrying out of the work he had 
planned for the development of Hanscombe 
and Kransen Islands. He hesitated, how- 
ever, spending so large a portion of the time 
of the expedition in these searches, and, 
therefore, sent Mr. Henderson a wireless 
despatch asking to what extent he would be 
willing to. have the searching continued. 
He was pleased to receive the following 
characteristic despatch from Mr. Hender- 
son: 

“New York City. 

“Your wireless despatch concerning the disappear- 
ance of boys received. Don’t hesitate to spend all 
the time you wish in looking for the boys. They are 
of great value to the expedition. Time enough to 
see to your work when this has been satisfactorily 
attended to. Keep me posted by wireless as to re- 
sults reached. ’ ’ 

The only change that Kransen made in 
his plans was in regard to the development 


CAMP HENDERSON 


329 


of Kransen Island. He had spent so much 
time in making the necessary searches for 
the boys that he was unable to do consider- 
able work on either of these islands. Leav- 
ing Capt. J ones in command of Camp Hen- 
derson, he started in company with Dr. 
Hanscombe with several sledging parties 
carrying materials for the houses, together 
with the steam engines, boilers, electric ma- 
chines, and other things necessary for both 
Hanscombe and Kransen Islands. He 
planned to leave on Hanscombe Island the 
material which he hoped to employ the next 
year on Kransen Island, if all should go 
well. 

Hanscombe Island was reached safely. 
Comfortable winter headquarters were 
erected of the same type of buildings as 
those established at Camp Henderson, and 
the boilers, dynamos, and electric lamps in- 
stalled. Large quantities of lignite were 
collected for use under the boilers, and a 


330 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

more systematic survey of tlie island was 
carried on. 

On the completion of this work they all 
safely returned to Camp Henderson except 
some of their party, whom they left on the 
island with Dr. Stone. 

Nothing occurred of a special note at 
Camp Henderson during their second win- 
ter there. The long winter night at last 
passed. At the beginning of summer, Joe 
and his party had returned. They brought 
with them information that caused great joy 
throughout Camp Henderson. 

Joe reported that he had made thorough 
search through the Eskimo encampments 
for hundreds of miles around them without 
finding traces either of the boys or of their 
dogs. During these travels, however, he 
had met several Eskimos with whom he was 
well acquainted, who informed him that the 
story told concerning the murder of the boys 
and the destruction of the balloon, was false. 


CAMP HENDERSON 


331 


That one of them had talked with an Eski- 
mo belonging to Dr. Willson’s party. That 
Dr. Willson had been treating his Eskimo 
friends so foolishly that many of his party 
had quarreled and left him. It was one of 
these men who had told Joe’s acquaintance 
in detail how the boys, together with their 
Newfoundland dogs, had escaped in the bal- 
loon. The man appeared to take special 
pleasure in informing Joe’s acquaintance 
how Eric had wounded Dr. Willson in the 
right wrist when he was aiming a revolver 
at the boys. 

There was great rejoicing at Camp Hen- 
derson. The men appearing to be especially 
pleased, not only that the boys had escaped, 
but that Mr. Eric had put a rifle ball 
through Dr. Willson’s right wrist. They 
appeared to agree that the only mistake he 
made was in not putting this ball through 
Dr. Willson’s heart or brain, an opinion, 
which, taking everything into consideration. 


332 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

would seem to possess no little in its favor. 

Capt. Jones was especially pleased when 
he heard the glad news. 

‘^What did I tell you,” he said trium- 
phantly to Kransen. Didn’t I back the 
boys to get out of such a scrape? I think 
it almost certain that they have reached 
Kransen Island, for, as you know, Mr. Eric 
can manage a balloon as w^ell as our chief 
mechanician. 

‘^That’s true,” said Jansen, the mechani- 
cian, who was present. 

^^But why did they not communicate with 
us by wireless?” said an officer who was 
present. ‘‘Supposing they had reached 
Kransen Island, for I understood you to 
tell me that complete wireless apparatus had 
been left with the balloon in the cave at that 
place.” 

“I do not know why,” said Kransen. 
“Possibly the apparatus has been injured 
or some important part of it has been lost.” 


CAMP HENDERSON 


333 


^^What are your plans'?’’ inquired Dr. 
Hanscombe, ^^now that you have received 
this splendid news from Joe'?” 

shall prepare the largest of the dirig- 
ible balloons,” said Kransen, ^^and go to 
Kransen Island by the way of Hanscombe 
Island.” 

‘^Whom will you take with you'?” in- 
quired Hanscombe. 

“Certainly you for one,” was the reply. 
“The chief mechanician for another, and 
Capt. Jones for the fourth, if he thinks he 
can safely leave Camp Henderson and the 
vessel while he is gone.” 

“Wall,” said Jones, “I reckon I’ll go 
with you. Gideon Thomas can look after 
Camp Henderson while I am away.” 


CHAPTER XVIII 


THE WniELESS TELEGRAPHIC STATION ON KRAN- 
SEN ISLAND 

R eturning now to Kransen Island, 
the boys were up bright and early, 
working hard to complete the placing of the 
wireless telegraphic apparatus, and making 
the necessary adjustments of the sending 
and receiving instruments. 

^‘Andree, I am now ready to send our 
first message to Camp Henderson.’’ 

The boys were naturally greatly excited, 
for it had now been a long time since they 
had seen or heard of any of their friends. 
Both of them Imew that in such far away 
districts as the Arctic regions, much might 
possibly happen during this time. They 
wondered, therefore, whether their dear un- 
334 


WIRELESS TELEGRAPHIC STATION 335 


cles were still living, and whether every- 
thing had gone well with them and their 
friends at Camp Henderson. 

wonder whether the wireless station at 
Camp Henderson uses the same call they did 
when I was with them,’’ said Eric. 

^‘What were their calling letters or sig- 
nals?” inquired Andree. 

^‘New York always used the letters, HN, 
in calling Camp Henderson, and we always 
used NZ for calling New York, and CM for 
calling Camp Hanscombe.” 

^‘Of course, you will call Camp Hender- 
son first?” asked Andree. 

^^Yes,” said Eric, ‘^so here goes,” and 
with that he began sending wireless signals 
in the Morse characters, HN, HN, HN, HN, 
etc., for a few minutes. 

At first they were afraid that something 
was wrong with their apparatus, since they 
received no reply. Suddenly, however, a 
message came : 


336 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 


‘‘Who do you 

^‘I want Camp Henderson,” Eric replied. 

“Who are youT’ came a message. 
“Prom what point are you calling?” 

“I am Eric Hanscomhe, and am calling 
from Kransen Island.” 

There then came almost instantly the fol- 
lowing message : 

“ This is not Camp Henderson. It is the wireless 
station on Hanscomhe Island. Is anyone with youT^ 

“Yes, Andree Kransen.” 

“Are you both well?” came the message. 

“We are in excellent health.” Eric now 
attempted to send something else when sud- 
denly the station on Hanscomhe Island 
broke in on him with the following de- 
spatch : 

“Thank God, you are both alive. I have reached 
Hanscomhe Island in the dirigible balloon in a search 
for you. Wire me particulars of all that has hap- 
pened you.’^ 


( Signed ) Kransen. 


WIRELESS TELEGRAPHIC STATION 837 

The two boys said nothing, but looked at 
each other in a manner that showed how 
greatly they were affected. Andree merely 
grasped Eric’s left hand and pressed it to 
indicate something of what he felt, but did 
not say anything, so as not to prevent him 
from answering. 

Eric at once sent the following despatch: 

^^Tell me first, is uncle Horace well, and 
are you all in good health?” 

^‘Yes, we are well,” was the reply, ^^but 
wire me particulars concerning yourselves.” 

Eric then sent the following message : 

“Andree and I were taken prisoners by Willson 
and his Eskimos. Thej^ planned to kill us, but we 
escaped with our dogs in the balloon at the new sta- 
tion. Everything right until we reached lat. 88° 
N., when the balloon began leaking badly. The 
ocean below contained but a small covering of ice. 
Everything was thrown ‘dverboard, even our basket 
and anchor, but not until our stores were attached 
to some of the ring-buoys, and boards of the basket 
of the balloon, so as to make them float when thrown 
into the water. Obliged to leave the balloon when 
22 


338 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

about a mile distant from an island in lat. 88° 20' 
N. We reached this island by swimming, aided by 
our dogs. Called the island, Balloon Island. All 
the goods thrown overboard were washed up on 
Balloon Island. Determined to leave Balloon Island 
for Kransen Island. Reached the latter place safely 
on a cake of ice with all our stores. Are very com- 
fortable here, and in excellent health. 

“Have much information concerning Kransen 
Island and its products. Please wire instructions. 

(Signed) Eric.” 

As related in the preceding chapter, 
Kransen, with three companions, Dr. Hans- 
combe, Jannsen, the mechanician, and Capt. 
Jones, had left Camp Henderson in the 
dirigible balloon, and had safely reached 
Hanscombe Island. They landed, and after 
properly securing the balloon spent some 
time in receiving reports from Dr. Stone as 
to the work accomplished in studying the 
products of the island, especially its animal 
products. After mastering these reports, 
Kransen, with his companions, had gone to 
the wireless station in order to send descrip- 


WIRELESS TELEGRAPHIC STATION 339 

tions of the same to New York as news for 
Mr. Henderson’s papers. While endeavor- 
ing to get the New York City wireless sta- 
tion, they received the despatch that Eric 
had been serfding from Kransen Island ; i. e., 
the signals, HN, HN, HN, HN, etc. 

<< There is someone calling Camp Hender- 
son,” exclaimed the operator. wonder 
who it is? It must, however, be someone 
who has not had any word from Camp Hen- 
derson for a long while. ’ ’ 

^‘How do you make that out?” asked 
Kransen in an excited tone. 

Because he is using HN for the calling 
signals. These letters have not been used 
for sometime, since we changed them for the 
letters, GH. This change was made some 
three months after the disappearance of the 
boys.” 

‘^Ask them what they want,” exclaimed 
Kransen. 

Then the reply came : 


340 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

want Camp Henderson/’ 

It was evident to all in the room that the 
electrician receiving the despatch was 
greatly excited. Indeed, his hand was 
trembling so that he could hardly attend 
properly to his work. 

‘^What is the matter?” inquired Kran- 
sen, seeing his agitation. 

may be wrong, Commander Kransen,” 
was the reply, ^‘but I think I recognize from 
the manner in which it was sent, that it is 
Mr. Eric who is talking with us.” 

It may surprise those who are unfamiliar 
with telegraphy that a claim could be made 
by an operator that he recognized, from 
the peculiar manner of sending the signals, 
the one calling him, but it is true to a certain 
extent, that every operator with Morse 
characters acquires a peculiar manner of 
sending his despatches, so that it is not in- 
frequently the case that an operator can be 
distinguished by his method of sending, just 


WIRELESS TELEGRAPHIC STATION 341 

as one can be recognized by the peculiarities 
of the voice. 

The gentlemen present could hardly con- 
trol themselves when Kransen said : 

^^Ask them who they are, and from what 
point they are sending.’’ 

When the answer came : 

am Eric Hanscombe, and am calling 
from Kransen Island, ’ ’ there was a shout of 
joy from all those present. 

Thank God,” s“aid both Kransen and 
Hanscombe. ‘ ^ Our dear boys are living. ’ ’ 

‘^Of course, they’re living,” said Capt. 
Jones, in an exulting tone. Didn’t I tell 
you they would turn up all right They 
are too tarnation cute to be queered easily. 
But ain’t I happy to hear the good news?” 
he continued. And then when asked to wire 
particulars concerning all that had hap- 
pened to them, they received Eric’s con- 
cise despatch, Capt. J ones turned to his com- 
panions and said: 


342 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

^^Look at that. They escaped in the bal- 
loon, reached Kransen Island in safety. 
Think how they have taken care of them- 
selves. What do you think of our boys, 
Jannsen?’’ he said, turning to the chief 
mechanician. 

^‘What do I think of them,’’ answered 
that gentleman. ‘‘What can I think of 
them; what can anyone think of them? 
They are boys in a thousand.- Taken pris- 
oners by that rascal, Willson, and the Es- 
kimos, they escape in the balloon and then 
what happened ? Any ordinary boys would 
have been drowned, but not onr boys. They 
hang on to the balloon, and after having 
made up their goods into parcels, that w^ould 
float when thrown in the water below 
them, they are thrown into the water about 
a mile from a strange island. Were they 
drowned? Not much. Only a trifle of a 
swim, a mile or so in icy waters. They 
reached the island in safety, followed in due 


WIRELESS TELEGRAPHIC STATION 343 

course of time by the goods that had floated 
after them.” 

‘‘But what I can’t understand,” said 
Capt. Jones, “is how they got their lati- 
tude.” 

“There was a good sextant in the bal- 
loon,” remarked Kransen. “You must not 
forget that you taught both the boys how to 
compute their latitude.” 

“That’s true,” said Jones, “and they are 
tarnation cute.” 

“But let me flnish,” continued Jannsen. 
“In some way or other, I don’t care how, 
they And their latitude. Knowing they 
could not be far from Kransen Island, per- 
haps seeing it dimly outlined in the distance, 
they determine to get there. What did they 
do? Wait for the first steamboat or ship? 
None around; and none to be expected. 
But it’s a simple matter to brainy boys. 
Put all the goods on a floating cake of ice, 
and all aboard for Kransen Island. They 


344 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

were not foolhardy boys, so I suppose they 
saw plenty of other cakes of ice floating in 
that direction. They reached the island, 
and there they are. Now, Capt. Jones,’’ he 
said, when he had flnished talking about the 
boys; ^‘do you still ask me what I think 
about our boys^’ 

^^Waal,” replied Jones, guess I won’t 
ask you anything else. I calculate I know 
what you think about 

Dr. Hanscombe had said little during this 
conversation. He was too happy to know 
that both the boys were safe and well. He 
merely said ; 

‘^All that is true, and the despatch says 
they are comfortable, and are provided with 
plenty of food, and especially that they have 
found out many things about Kransen 
Island and its products. Our dear boys 
have endeavored to carry out the plans of 
our expedition just as if they were still with 
us. Notice, too, how the despatch ends. 


WIRELESS TELEGRAPHIC STATION 345 


^Please wire instructions.’ They are as 
cool about it as if they had been absent for 
only a few days. What instructions will 
you send them?” he asked, turning to Kran- 
sen. 

Kransen sent the following despatch : 

“W^e will leave Hanseombe Island in the dirigible 
balloon inside of twelve hours, as soon as we take on 
some stores here for Kransen Island. You may look 
for us shortly unless something unexpected pre- 
vents. ’ ’ 

Both boys were greatly excited when They 
had so unexpectedly been able to communi- 
cate with their friends at Hanseombe Island 
instead of at Camp Henderson. 

^‘What a wonderful invention wireless 
telegraphy is! Here in less than an hour 
we have been able to communicate with our 
friends and the rescuing party. What 
grateful boys w^e should be for having es- 
caped so many dangers, and we now in a 
short time shall see our dear uncles.” 

While Andree had been talking another 


346 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

call came on the receiving instrument. It 
was as follows: 

“Were you calling Camp Henderson?’’ 

“Yes,” replied Eric, “are you Camp Hen- 
derson?” 

“Yes, who are you and where are you?” 
came the next message. 

“Eric Hanscombe on Kransen Island,” 
replied Eric. 

“Is Andree with you and are you both 
well?” came the inquiry. 

“Yes, Andree Kransen is with me. We 
are both in splendid health. We have just 
been talking with Hanscombe Island, with 
Commander Kransen and his party, who 
have safely reached that point in the dir- 
igible balloon.” 

The reply came : 

“Wait a moment. I wish to tell the good 
news to the people of Camp Henderson.” 
And shortly afterwards the following de- 
spatch was received : 


WIRELESS TELEGRAPHIC STATION 347 


^‘Camp Henderson sends warmest congratulations. 
Great joy here to be assured that you are both alive. . 

“(Signed) Charles Thomas, 
“Chief Electrician and Acting Com.” 


CHAPTER XIX 


ARRIVAL OF THE DIRIGIBLE BALLOON AT KRAN- 
SEN ISLAND 

S soon as the boys had learned the 



dirigible balloon might be expected 
shortly on Kransen Island, the time seemed 
to pass with unusual slowness. They sat 
up late that night on the bench they had 
placed in front of their cave, at a point 
where they could get a good view of the 
ocean to the south. They occasionally 
looked through the glass at Balloon Island, 
of which they could obtain a faint view, 
since the air was then remarkably clear. 
At most times, however, as they had discov- 
ered on reaching Kransen Island the pres- 
ence of but a faint haze in the atmosphere 
made the island practically invisible. 


348 


THE DIRIGIBLE BALLOON 


349 


They talked about the various things that 
had happened to them, but there was one 
subject which they most frequently dis- 
cussed. This subject was expressed by 
Eric as follows: 

‘‘Andree,’’ said Eric, can hardly wait, 
the time seems to pass so slowly.’’ 

^^Yes,” said Andree, that’s the way it 
seems to me. The despatch says they are in 
good health, does it not"?” inquired Andree, 
anxiously. 

^^Yes,” replied Eric, ^Hhe despatch said, 
‘We are well,’ but that doesn’t tell us nearly 
all that we want to know.” 

The boys continued sitting up for several 
hours looking wistfully across the water , in 
the direction the dirigible balloon had 
reached the island on the occasion of their 
former visit to' it. At last they went to bed, 
but even then they lay awake for several 
hours still talking over the great things that 
had happened to them and especially of the 


350 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

expected coming of their friends in the 
dirigible balloon. 

They got up early the next morning, and 
after a hurried breakfast they again went to 
the shore and looked across its waters. 

At last Eric said in a laughing tone to An- 
dree: 

‘^Andree, we both know that there is no 
chance whatever of the balloon’s reaching 
here for a considerable time. Suppose we 
go to our cave and fix everything in good 
order to receive our friends. We will then 
go to the wireless station on Mt. Kransen 
and talk with Hanscombe Island and Camp 
Henderson.” 

As soon as they got to some definite work 
the time passed much more rapidly. They 
learned from Hanscombe Island, that Kran- 
sen, Hanscombe, Jannsen, and Jones had 
left the island the afternoon before, that the 
balloon had been favored with a wind di- 
rectly toward the north. 


THE DIRIGIBLE BALLOON 


351 


Shortly afterwards Eric was surprised to 
receive a congratulatory despatch from Kew 
York City. Gideon Thomas, chief electri- 
cian, had sent a despatch to Mr. Henderson, 
the financial backer of the expedition, tell- 
ing him of the safety of the boys. It was as 
follows : 

“Congratulations. The news of your safety is the 
best news I have received for a long time from the 
far north. 

(Signed) George I. Henderson.’’ , 

As the time was now drawing near when 
they could expect to see the balloon coming, 
they descended the slopes of Mt. Kransen, 
and went to the coast near the lava caves. 
At last the welcome sight of a balloon was 
dimly seen on the southern horizon. 

^^Andree,’’ shouted Eric, “there is the 
dirigible balloon,” pointing in the direction 
in which he had been looking through pow- 
erful field glasses. 

“Yes,” said Andree, as soon as he had 


362 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 


focused the glasses on this point. ^‘It will 
not be long now before it reaches the is- 
land.’’ 

The balloon drew nearer and nearer, and 
at last was immediately overhead. The an- 
chor was thrown out. The balloon ceased 
to move forward, and descended. In a few 
moments, the boys were clasped in the arms 
of their uncles. 

‘‘Thank God,” said both of the men as 
they pressed each of the boys to their 
breasts. “Let us thank our Heavenl}^ 
Father that He has again protected you.” 
And then Imeeling down on the shore, they 
returned thanks to God for all the mercies 
He had sent them. 

Capt. J ones was especially pleased to see 
the boys again. 

“Boys,” he said, “you’d be surprised to 
larn how much you’ve been missed at our 
Camp. We thought we knew how much we 
liked you, but when you disappeared, we 


THE DIRIGIBLE BALLOON 353 

found that we had liked you much better 
than we believed. So this/' he said, look- 
ing around, ''is the Land of the North Pole ^ 
At last I am on that little piece of ground 
so many have tried to reach. Come and 
show me the place, that which has so both- 
ered the world to find." 

On reaching the point where they had lo- 
cated the North Pole, Jones stood before the 
American fiag, that, it will be remembered, 
was planted at this point. Eemoving his 
hat, he saluted the fiag that was still proudly 
waving from a pole at the exact northern 
axis of the earth. 

"I don’t mind," said Jannsen, "if I turn 
in again as chef or cook. If you have any 
stores with you at the cave, I will try to get 
up a grand dinner in order to celebrate this 
glad day." 

"Come to the cave," said the boys, "we 
have plenty of good things there." 

"All right," said Jannsen, "but I think I 

23 


,^54 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

will bring some of the best things we have 
in the balloon.” 

When the party reached the cave they 
were surprised to see the many improve- 
ments the boys had made during their so- 
journ on the island. 

Hello, boys,” said Kransen, as he saw 
the substantial stone wall with which the 
boys had completely shut up the entrance to 
the cave. see you’ve turned masons.” 
Then carefully examining the work, ^‘this is 
well done. Where did you get the mor- 
tar?” 

We made it under Andree’s instructions. 
The wood of the door came from the baskets 
of the two balloons.” 

“By the way, boys,” inquired Jannsen, 
“what became of the balloon we left here in 
the cave?” 

The boys explained the accident that had 
occurred, how the balloon had been ^de- 
stroyed by fire and then told them of the 


THE DIRIGIBLE BALLOON 


355 


telegraph station they had built on top of 
Mt. Kransen. 

^^Mt. Kransen,” said Dr. Hansconibe, 
laughing, ^‘so you’ve been mapping out the 
island and naming the different parts, have 
you? Let us see your map,” he continued. 

The men made a careful examination of 
the map, when Kransen, turning to the boys, 
said : 

^^We will let the names stand as you have 
given them. Kow let us see your food sup- 
plies,” he continued. 

The stores of food products, especially 
the dried meats and smoked salmon, pleased 
them all very much, particularly Kransen. 

When the boys spoke about the stone tele- 
graph station they had built on Mt. Kran- 
sen, they concluded to go there and examine 
the place, as well as to take the opportunity 
of sending a wireless despatch to Camp 
Henderson and Hanscombe Island. 

^‘1 think I will go with you,” said Jann- 


356 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

sen. ''There will be plenty of time to at- 
tend to the cooking afterwards.’’ 

The skill of the boys as masons was much 
admired by their visitors, especially the in- 
genuity they had employed in making the 
most of their limited quantity of wood. 
Capt. Jones was particularly pleased at the 
different kinds of work the boys were capa- 
ble of doing. 

"It seems,” he said, laughing, "you chaps 
can turn your hands to most anything. Wire- 
less telegraphy, carpentering, limeburning, 
masonry, or any other thing.” 

The party remained some seven days on 
Kransen Island, carefully examining the 
important discoveries the boys had made as 
regards its animal and mineral products. 
Kransen was especially pleased on learning 
of the great extent of the bed of lignite coal, 
the limits of which were carefully exam- 
ined, so as to enter claims on the same in the 
name of Mr. Henderson. The deposit of 


THE DIRIGIBLE BALLOON 357 

iron ore and the beds of limestone in the 
neighborhood of the coal beds, especially in- 
terested him. 

^‘We have here,” he remarked, ^Hhe 
means of making excellent iron and steel, 
products of the greatest importance in the 
commercial development of this part of the 
world, which is devoid of wood as a building 
material. Here also, ’ ’ he said, as he stooped 
down to examine a deposit of shale, ^4s a 
material, which, when employed in connec- 
tion with lime, will yield hydraulic or Port- 
land cement, a building material, as valua- 
ble, if, indeed, not more valuable in this part 
of the world than iron or steel.” 

The discovery of the bed of rock salt 
pleased him almost as much as did the other 
mineral deposits, since he saw that this ma- 
terial, when taken in connection with the im- 
mense schools of salmon or other fish that 
visited this part of the coast, would permit 
them to cure the fish and thus lay up im- 


358 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

iiieiise food supplies for tlie winter, as well, 
when the commercial development of the is- 
land was completed, to ship such products to 
the different parts of the world where the 
best markets could be obtained for them. 

It may be mentioned here that besides the 
warm welcome Kransen and his party had 
received from the boys, the Newfoundland 
dogs had not failed to show by all means in 
their power that they recognized the visitors 
from Camp Henderson and were glad to see 
them. 

^‘Look,” said Capt. Jones, ‘Hhe critters 
are almost crazy to see us again. How are 
you, doggies,’^ he said, ‘^do you want to go 
back again to Camp Henderson? Look,’’ 
he said, ^^see how they shake their tails and 
ahnost say ; 

‘We want to go back again all right, if 
our masters go with us.’ ” 

When everything had been left on the 
island in such a condition that it would be 


THE DIRIGIBLE BALLOON 


350 


found safe on tlieir return, they left the 
island in the dirigible balloon. 

^‘We will, of course, make a short visit to 
Balloon Island,” said Kransen. 

The balloon was soon on the eastern slope 
of the mountain near the lava cave which 
formed Kransen House. 

‘ ^ Has this island been formally taken pos- 
session of in the name of the United States 
of America inquired Kransen. 

‘^Yes, Uncle,” said Andree, ‘‘that was al- 
most the first thing that Eric did on reach- 
ing the island.” 

The different points of interest were care- 
fully examined by all the party with the 
greatest enthusiasm. 

After spending a few days on the island 
they again left in the dirigible balloon for 
Hanscombe Island, which they reached in 
due time. Dr. Stone and the rest of the 
people on the island welcomed the boys and 
congratulated them on their escapes from 


360 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

all tlie dangers through which they had 
passed. 

Kransen was especially pleased to receive 
a despatch from Camp Henderson notifying 
him of the arrival of the ‘^Rescue’’ with ad- 
ditional supplies from the east. The ‘‘Res- 
cue’’ had been sent at the request of Kran- 
sen, who notified Henderson of the necessity 
of remaining at least another year in order 
to carry out his plans for commercially de- 
veloping that part of the world. This de- 
spatch also contained the welcome news to 
the boys that their old friend, Mr. Gideon 
Brown, the reporter, was on the ship, and 
intended to remain with the party. The 
fact that he was there was soon made ap- 
parent by another despatch which was re- 
ceived from this irrepressible individual. 
This despatch which was directed to Andree 
and Eric, was as follows: 

“Delighted to hear of your safety. I shall expect 
you as Assistant Reporters of the Henderson-Kransen 


THE DIRIGIBLE BALLOON 


361 


North Polar Expedition, to prepare for me full re- 
ports of your experiences since your disappearance 
from Camp Henderson. It will all make splendid 
news for the newspapers. The book on the Hender- 
son-Kransen North Polar Expedition has been a grand 
success. Mr. Henderson has again sent me to Camp 
Henderson to prepare material for an additional vol- 
ume. He authorizes me to offer you a salary of $2,000 
each as Assistant Reporters of the Expedition.” 

That man is a great enthusiast,” said Dr. 
Hanscombe, laughing. 

‘‘He is indeed,” was the reply. 

Nothing of note occurred and in due 
process of time' the party in the balloon 
could distinctly see the mastheads and their 
antennae at the wireless telegraphic station 
on the headland at Camp Henderson. 


CHAPTER XXI 


PUNISHMENT OF DOCTOR WILLSON AND THE 
HOSTILE ESKIMOS. CONCLUSION. 

T he officers and crew of the Explorer,’’ 
as well as those of the “Rescue,” with 
the exception of a few left on guard at the 
vessels, turned out to welcome the arrival 
of the dirigible balloon, and especially An- 
dree and Eric. There were, therefore, 
many hearty welcomes given both to the 
boys and their dogs. 

It was very evident from the manner in 
which everyone, both officers and men, 
greeted the boys, that, as Capt. Jones had 
declared the people at Camp Henderson 
were the more attached to them than they 
had believed. Everyone insisted on shak- 
ing hands with the boys. The character of 
362 


CONCLUSION 


363 


their greeting varied, of course, with the 
individual. That of most of the officers 
was sincere but warm. Hjalmar, who, 
perhaps, was more attached to the boys than 
any of the non-commissioned officers, said: 

''This is a great day, boys, for all of us 
at Camp Henderson. We are all so glad to 
see you again.’’ 

Caesar, the black cook, after shaking the 
hands of the boys, whispered as he was leav- 
ing them : 

"Come to de galley soon. I’se something 
dat tastes good.” 

Joe, the Eskimo, came up to the boys 
grinning, and very proud of the little Eng- 
lish he had learned, made a short address 
to them in that tongue, which, after great 
pains, he had committed to memory: 

"Joe glad to see you back again. Joe 
’fraid bad Eskimos kill you, so went far 
away looking for you and the dogs. Joe 
very glad you here.” 


364 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

The boys shaking Joe’s hand, told him in 
Eskimo that they had heard of the work 
he had done in his search during the winter, 
and assured him that they would not forget 
it. 

Joe glad to see the Newfoundland dogs 
again,” he added. 

It was evident the dogs were also glad to 
see him, for they had become very much at- 
tached to J oe, and appeared never to forget 
that he had originally been their master. 
But Joe was especially pleased when Eric 
brought one of Snowflake’s puppies, and 
said: 

^‘This is a present from Andree and my- 
self, Joe. This dog is yours. We are sure 
you will take good care of it.” 

Greatly tickled at having such a high bred 
dog given to him, Joe said: 

Joe call him Come-Back, because Joe he 
got it when you come here again.” 

Joe was evidently very proud of his pro- 



Blindly followed the dogs 


1 


1 





( 


1 1 


V 








I 




L, 


I 


% 


h 


t 


» 








I 




■ « 


✓ 




\ 








#• 

\ 


I 


t 

I 



I 





ft 

. ‘j 









f. I 


< 


I 


1 


CONCLUSION 


365 


ficiency in the English language, that thus 
permitted him to make up an English name 
for his dog, for he said to the boys with a 
broad grin: 

^^Joe speak English so well now that he 
calls dog Come-Back/’ 

But, perhaps, there was no heartier wel- 
come for the boys than that of Gideon 
Brown the reporter. 

‘‘Boys,” he said, repeatedly shaking their 
hands, “I can’t tell you how glad I am to 
see you again. When a wireless message 
was received in New York reporting you as 
probably dead, I felt I had lost two very 
dear friends. But when the tidings came 
that you had been discovered in good health 
on Kransen Island, I was very glad, and 
was pleased that I was on the “Rescue” that 
was then steaming rapidly toward the 
north, for the “Rescue” had left New York 
City when the despatch was received by its 
vureless apparatus.” 


366 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

‘‘We are very glad to see you again, Mr. 
Brown,’’ said both boys. 

“So the book was successful?” inquired 
Andree. 

“Very successful. So much so, indeed, 
that Mr. Henderson made me a very flatter- 
ing offer to return to Camp Henderson with 
the “Rescue” and get together as quickly as 
possible, the materials for an additional vol- 
ume. He especially desires that your ser- 
^ vices will continue as Assistant Reporters, 
and authorized me, should you be willing to 
serve for another year, to offer you a yearly 
salary of $2,000 apiece, to date from Jan. 
1st of this year. You will accept this offer, 
won’t you?” he inquired anxiously. 

“Certainly,” said Eric, “I will be pleased 
to accept the position and the salary with 
it.” 

“And I too,” replied Andree, laughing. 

“Do you think you can remember correct- 
ly most all the experiences and adventures 


CONCLUSION 


36^ 

you have had while away from Camp Hen- 
derson?’’ inquired Mr. Brown. 

‘^Mr. Brown,” said Eric, laughing, ‘^you 
are forgetting who brought us up as as- 
sistant reporters. Let me whisper some- 
thing in your ear. When the balloon had 
lost so much of its gas that we were obliged 
to throw practically everything overboard, 
even including our rifles, revolvers, and 
chronometers, what do you think we were 
careful to keep ? ” 

‘‘1 am sure I don’t know,” was the reply. 
^Wour pocketbooks ? ” 

^^No,” said Eric, ‘‘but our notebooks and 
lead pencils, and what is more, we used 
them while in the balloon making careful 
notes occasionally anjdhing of interest 
which we saw.” 

“Now that is what I call splendid report- 
ing,” said Mr. Brown enthusiastically. 
“You wouldn’t find one reporter among a 
thousand who would do that.” 


368 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

Capt. Northrop, commander of the Res- 
cue,’’ said: 

‘‘I am glad to see you again, my lads. I 
regret very much that my people on the 
ship did not watch that rascally fellow, 
Willson, better. Had they not permitted 
him to escape you would have been saved 
many dangers. ’ ’ 

‘‘Eric,” said Dr. Shallcross, who had been 
appointed chief physician of the “Rescue” 
in place of Dr. Willson, “have you been 
making any further uses of fluorescene? 
That is a magnificent test of Dr. Icard’s. 
On our return to New York City, I read a 
paper before one of our medical societies 
describing the use to which we had put it in 
the case of Commander Kransen. The pa- 
per attracted considerable attention. Of 
course, I gave you the credit for the sugges- 
tion. This paper, together with the discus- 
sion that followed it, was published in full 
in all the medical journals. All of Hender- 


CONCLUSION 


3G9 


son’s newspapers also published it. Believ- 
ing that you would be glad to see them I 
have clippings from all of these papers, and 
will show them to you sometime when you 
are less busy than now.” 

On the evening of their return, there was 
a grand entertainment in the large assembly 
room, that, as before mentioned, had been 
built over the living and sleeping rooms of 
the headquarters. This room was not only 
large enough to hold all the officers and 
crews of both the ^‘Explorer” and the ‘‘Res- 
cue,” but also quite a number of the Eski- 
mos, who had been employed as workmen by 
Kransen. There had also been invited 
many of the visiting Eskimos, since, of 
course, the rumor had been spread around 
the country for hundreds of miles of the 
many wonderful things that could be seen 
in the encampment of the great white men 
from the east. The officers observed, how- 
ever, with some surprise that very few of 

24 


aVO CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

the male Eskimos, whom they had always 
regarded as their friends, were present at 
the entertainment. 

There were great goings on at the enter- 
tainment. The programme, as usual, while 
arranged to meet a great variety of tastes, 
was especially of such a character as would 
interest the simple-minded sailors, or the 
Eskimos, for Commander Kransen knew 
how necessary it was in order to preserve 
the health of his men to keep them busy 
and interested, and did all in his power to 
make their sojourn at the north, not only 
comfortable, but even pleasant. 

It had been the desire of the crew of the 

Explorer” to get up something very un- 
usual at that entertainment, which should 
express their great delight at having both 
the boys with them again. Consequently, 
after a most tremendous mental effort, they 
conceived the idea of preparing what is 
known as a Eound Eobin. 


CONCLUSION 


371 


Since it is possible that many of my read- 
ers may not be aware of what is meant by 
a Round Robin, it may be said for their in- 
formation that it is a name given to a form 
of communication sometimes employed by 
sailors when they wish to send in a petition, 
remonstrance, or other communication to 
the captain, so that it shall not be known 
who signed first. To do this the communi- 
cation is placed inside a circle, and the sig- 
natures written on the outside of the circle, 
in the direction of its radii. 

Just why the sailors were unwilling to 
permit it to become known who signed the 
very flattering communication they had pre- 
pared, we will not pretend to say. Of 
course, none of them would be ashamed to 
let it become known that he had headed 
such a list. They did this, however, as a 
matter of custom. 

When the Round Robin had been handed 
with great ceremony to Andree and Eric, 


372 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

the speaker with the natural hesitation that 
Jack generally shows when speaking in pub- 
lic, said: 

^‘Me and my messmates ask you to take 
this as showing what our feelings are. It 
has been wrote in poetry, which is hoped 
will be pleasant. Nobody helped us make 
this up. It was all done by our crew.” 

When the boys had thanked the sailors 
for their kindness, someone in the crew of 
the ‘^Explorer,” evidently proud of this 
great literary production, cried to Eric : 

‘^Please read it aloud, Mr. Eric.” 

Eric then read the following astounding 
literary production : 

‘‘See all names here, 

Not one doth lack. 

We’re awful glad 
To see you back.” 

Then followed the names of the entire 
crews of the “Explorer” and the “Rescue,” 


CONCLUSION 


373 


written, as before remarked, along tlie radii 
of the circle. 

This tremendous literary production pro- 
duced a profound impression on all the sail- 
ors. The crews of both vessels vigorously 
applauded it. One of the crew of the ^^Ees- 
cue” was overheard to say to the man next 
to him : 

say, matie, that’s wonderful prett}^ 
We fellows of the sea can write poetry all 
right, can’t we?” 

“Sure,” was the reply, “I say. Jack,” he 
continued, “I’d like to see that in print. 
Wouldn’t it look great?” 

Besides music, both instrumental and vo- 
cal, and various things that would appeal to 
the more simple-minded people in the au- 
dience, there was something that interested 
them all, and this was speeches made by the 
different officers, especially by Commander 
Kransen and Dr. Hanscombe. 

During Commander Kransen ’s speech, in 


374 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

wliicli lie pointed out tlie objects of the Ilen- 
derson-Kransen North Polar Expedition, 
he called attention to the liberality of Mr. 
Henderson in agreeing to divide among the 
officers and men of the Explorer ’s’’ crew, 
according to their salaries or wages, a ten 
per cent interest on all companies founded 
on mineral lands discovered by any member 
of the Expedition. He took occasion to re- 
fer to the great value of the large bed of lig- 
nite coal that had been traced by the boys on 
Kransen Island, as probably being a contin- 
uation of the coal bed already located. He 
referred to the valuable deposits of iron ore 
and limestone, pointing out how easily me- 
tallic iron could be obtained from them. 
He told them about the valuable salt deposit 
that had been discovered, remarking that 
these discoveries of the boys could not in his 
opinion fail to make a very handsome in- 
crease in the amount of money due them by 
the Expedition. 


CONCLUSION 


375 


Of course, this statement by Kransen 
created a great enthusiasm among the men, 
who insisted on speeches from the boys. 

Both Andree and Eric made short 
speeches saying how much pleased they were 
for the hearty welcome they had all given 
them, and how glad they were to be back 
again safely at Camp Henderson. 

Eric had hardly finished talking when a 
great noise, was heard outside the as- 
sembly room, apparently coming from the 
harbor, where the Explorer” and the 
Rescue” were lying at anchor. These 
noises were accompanied by the firing of 
guns and revolvers, as well as by the angry 
shouts of men as if engaged in a battle. 
The entire audience poured out of the as- 
sembly room. Led by Capt. Jones and 
Commander Kransen they ran rapidly to- 
ward the harbor, where they found that the 
brief battle was already over, with the vic- 
tory on the side of the friendly Eskimos, 


376 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

who had failed to attend the entertainment. 

On the arrival of Kransen and his party 
they were informed by the friendly Eski- 
mos that understanding an effort would be 
made while the parties were at the enter- 
tainment to set fire to the two vessels, they 
had quietly kept a close watch. It ap- 
peared that Willson had been gradually 
losing his influence with his Eskimo fol- 
lowers, who were now limited to ten men. 
He had hung around Camp Henderson 
with these men entirely unknown to Kran- 
sen, but carefully watched by the friendly 
Eskimos. On learning that there would 
be an entertainment in the great hall Will- 
son had planned to destroy the two ships by 
fire, for he did not think that watches would 
be left on them. It appeared he was very 
angry when he learned that the two boys, 
especially Eric, had returned safely to the 
camp. He persuaded his men that it would 
be easy to set fire to the two vessels. That 


CONCLUSION 


m 


this would, of course, bring all the people in 
the entertainment to the vessels, during 
which they could loot the houses and after- 
wards set them on fire, and that in this way 
they would be able to avenge themselves on 
the white men. 

Willson had hoped that this plan would 
so appeal to the Eskimos, by reason of its 
simplicity, that many of them would join 
him. But when they heard of the plan the 
Eskimos were very angry, since they had 
nearly all become greatly attached to the 
great white chief from the east. They de- 
termined to say nothing about it at present, 
but to hide themselves and watch to see if 
their men would be so wicked as to set fire to 
the vessels. When Willson and his men ac- 
tually made this attempt they promptly set 
on them with their rifles and spears, and 
killed all of them except Willson. 

When, therefore, Jones, Kransen, and the 
rescuing party reached a point near the har- 


378 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

bor, they found the vessels safe, the fight 
over, and all the asaulting party killed ex- 
cept the one before referred to. One of the 
friendly Eskimos, coming to Kransen, 
said: 

“All dead except man over there.’’ 

“Let’s see if anything can be done for 
him,” he said, approaching the wounded 
man. 

Dr. Willson, who was still conscious, look- 
ing up, said : 

“What do you want here? Can’t you let 
me die in peace?” 

“I don’t see how you can expect to die in 
peace,” said Capt. Jones, “after attempting 
such a villainous trick as trying to set fire 
to our vessels.” 

Hanscombe, who now came up to the dy- 
ing man accompanied by the two boys, knelt 
down and feeling his pulse, said : 

“You have only a short time to live, can 
I do anything for you?” 


CONCLUSION 


379 


^^Only a short time to live,” said Vfillson, 
looking at Eric with a wicked look, and then 
drawing a revolver, that he had managed to 
conceal, he said to Eric : 

I have to die, you will go along with 
me,” aiming the revolver at Eric’s head, 
but instantly, Joe, the Eskimo, who had 
just reached the place, hurled his lance at 
the man, and drove it through his heart, kill- 
ing him before he could pull the trigger of 
his revolver. 

^‘Bad man,” said Joe, grinning. ‘^Try- 
ing to kill Mr. Eric, but Joe too quick with 
spear.” 

Eric thanked J oe for the prompt help he 
had given him. It was noticed, however, by 
those who looked on, that Eric had already 
draAvn his revolver and was about ready to 
shoot when Joe’s spear passed through the 
heart of the miscreant Doctor. 

The only remark that Jones made after 
Joe had killed Willson was: 


380 CAST AWAY AT THE NORTH POLE 

‘‘There dies a liar and a thief.’’ 

“Here at last is the end of our troubles,” 
said Kransen. “I will report to the United 
States authorities at New York City all the 
circumstances attending the death of this 
miserable man. ” 

They made no attempt to renew the enter- 
tainment that had been broken up so unex- 
pectedly, not only because it had been so 
near its completion, but because there were 
so many other things to discuss. 

Capt. Northrop remained at Camp Hen- 
derson with the* “Rescue” as long as he 
safely could, and 3^et be able to return to 
New York before the setting in of the long 
winter. Word was* received from New 
York that Dr. Biddle, with whom Dr. Hans- 
combe had left his medical practice was car- 
rying it on satisfactorily. Hanscombe, 
therefore, decided to remain with the Hen- 
derson-Kransen North Polar Expedition 
for an additional year, and agreed that Eric 


COITCLUSION 


381 


should remain with him. Kransen did not 
hesitate to permit Andree to do the same 
thing. He knew that during the next year 
the boys would be a great help to him in car- 
rying out Mr. Henderson’s plans for the 
commercial development of the Arctic re- 
gions of the far north. Both men were only 
too glad to have the aid as well as the com- 
panionship of the boys, who had already 
been of such great help in the work of the 
Expedition. 

Gideon Brown, with the aid of the two 
3^oung assistant reporters, succeeded in get- 
ting together another book describing the 
work done by the Henderson-Kransen North 
Polar Expedition. This book contained 
among other things, the experiences of the 
boys during their recent prolonged absence 
from Camp Henderson. 

During the additional year the Expedition 
remained in the far North, there were many 
exciting and interesting experiences and a 


382 CAST AWAY AT TPIE NORTH POLE 

great amount of information was obtained 
concerning the best manner of commercially 
developing these distant regions and may be 
described in three additional volumes to be 
known as the Polar Series. 


TKe R.o\jndabovit Library 

For 

Yout\g People 

THIS WELL-KNOWN SERIES OF BOOKS 

is recognized as tlie best library of Copyright Books 
for young people, sold at popular prices. 

THE AUTHORS represented in the Roundabout 
Library are not only the best well-known writers of 
juvenile literature, but the titles listed comprise the 
best writings of these authors, 

OVER 100 TITLES are now in this Library and 
all new titles will be selected with the same care as 
in the past, for stories that are not only entertaining 
but equally instructive and elevating. This respect 
for wholesome juvenile literature is what has made 
and kept the Roundabout Library better than any 
other library of books for Boys and Girls. 

OUR AIM is to maintain the supremacy of these 
books over all others from every viewpoint^ and to 
make the superior features so apparent that those who 
have once read one, will always return to the 
Roundabout Library for more. 

Bound In Extra Cloth, with gold title and ap~ 
propriate cover designs stamped In colors, 
attractive and durable, printed on the best 
paper from large clear type. Illustrated, 

1 2 mo, 

PRICE PER. VOLUME. - $ .75 

Catalogue mailed on application to the Publishers. 

THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO., Publishers 

PHILADELPHIA 



FAMOUS STANDARD JUVENILES 

FOR GIRLS 

A GOOD GIRL’S BOOK IS . HARD TO FIND ! 
One often hears the above quoted. Thest books have 
stood the tests of time and careful mothers, and will be 
of the greatest interest to girls of all ages. Free from 
- any unhealthy sensationalism, yet full of incident and 
romance, they are the cream of the best girls’ books pub- 
lished. These volumes, each one well illustrated, carefully 
printed on excellent paper, substantially bound in cloth, 
1 2mo. 

WAYS AND MEANS LIBRA.RY. By Margaret 

Vandegrift. 4 vols $3 00 

Queen’s Body Guard. Doris and Theodora. 

Rose Raymond’s Wards. Ways and Means. 

STORIES FOR GIRLS. 3 vols 2 25 

Dr. Gilbert’s Daughters. 

Marion Berkley. Hartwell Farm. 

HONEST ENDEAVOR LIBRARY. By Lucy C. 

Lillie. 3 vols $235 

The Family Dilemma. Allison’s Adventures. 

Ruth Endicott’s Way. 

MILBROOK LIBRARY. By Lucy C. Lillie. 

4 vols $3 00 

Helen Glenn. Esther’s Fortune, 

The Squire’s Daughter. For Honor’s Sake. 

RECENT SUCCESSES 
The following, though of recent date, have at once 
reached such a height of popularity that they can already 
be classified as standards. 75 cents each. 

Lady Green Satin. By Baroness Deschesney. 

Marion_Berkley. By Elizabeth B. Comins. 

Lenny, the Orphan. By Margaret Hosmer. 

Family Dilemma. By Lucy C. Lillie. 

Question of Honor, By Lynde Palmer 
Girl’s Ordeal. A. By Lucy C. Lillie. 

Elinor Belden ; or The Step Brothers. By Lucy C. Lillie. 

Where Honor Leads. By Lynde Palmer. 

Under the Hollj^ By Margaret Hosmer. 

Two Bequests. The ; or, Heavenward Led. By Jane R. Sommere. 
The Thistles of Mount Cedar. By Ursula Tannenforst. - $1.26 
Catalogue sent on application to the Publisher 













t . 



■ « 


I 

♦ ^ 




.d A 


> 



» 











\V 

AS' o 







>- V 

- . oA' 'K 

* .0 N 0 ^ \V 

> V ^^. ' * 0 / ^ A ' 

^t/' A^'-' - j-IX'^i' />i ’K< ^ 

yy A /. 


x 0 °^. 





,V • 

-A ^ 

c 0 ^ ' 

C'. XV l,-*. ^ ^ ^ jp/I/^^ 

xo : 



itNX^ > \v ^ 

y ^'syvi - * or 

^ . 0 ^ / , . „ 


■'^v 

A' ■'^v^ 


■ / -* 1 ^ > I - ^ Aa ^ 

N rp ^ 

\\< . ■ •'^b/ ^ , OK C ^ 




C> 0 


H 


,r ,Q 


A 



0 M 0 


'V * A z '<r^ ^ 


V 




o .H -r. 


■i oV - y V • j. 

" ^ ^ . 0 K C ^ ^ ^ s " , 6 , 0 , X 

-1 ^ ,-' 
//^ •»= 

v^" ■^oo’* 

0 o “ 'W. * 



\ r\.' 

^ e vO 







0 K f, ,. * 



iM ’■- b/'. v^v .V\; 


t/> 


'T 

* 

;,*=/°\>\' *»,/-> "'ro 

% .*k¥A"“ % ‘ 

o w/Yi^ ^ ^ 

■ --or ■-' ^ V) >» 

r-^m^ A. ri-* \>V - 

<r ‘- '’ \^ , ‘ O/ ^ ^ '0 < '''' 

.Y^ r r <r> 





Ss 

o V ^ 



*S> 

\0 j. s ^ O 

, 0 “^ c"-- ,.^"« % 


V 

o 0 ^ 






0 <i V 


oo 



y -V \V <P 



iS J^n///y^ ^ ^ k 


' y % 



• V 







,^aB V«N -*/Al 

■ U .;V 

* -’■. A' 0 ( 

,r. .AV ^ J >7. o c 





^r^ 

f >0 C>, 'y 

^ V ^ ^ .0 N 0 ^ 

#* -' 


V a^Hf/yyr> Kt 




S ,<? ^o,% 

,o" . ' \ V ' -V 

- ^ ”: .* 




“ vN\'*», "> ” ' "‘ <f s'- " • „ ’■ 

.V A / 



vV> 

■cT' ^ 

t/> .\' *. 


'J. .C\ 


>> 

G°‘ .^ !^‘ ♦. 







o'^ 



V^' 

‘’ v^ 

. /X^ " 

V' ,< 





> , X^ ‘^, * 

V^ > 

t ^ iOAMym ® 

tP ,\V « z 

C 








9' 


0 O. 



0^ 


4 ^ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



